A Chi Town Romance
by Jessika Organa Solo
Summary: New Bonus chapters! A college romance involving our favorite pair of opposites. Not too sappy, hopefully not too predictable. Angst, Fluff and happy endings. J/P, C/C, T/F
1. DP9521

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters in this story. I have made every effort to ensure that facts are correct, but I may have inadvertently missed a fact. Some facts may be modified to fit my plot line.

Setting: Two years after high school graduation, the group is ending their second year of college at various universities. The main setting is Chicago with some time spent in Minnesota and Texas. Julie, Connie, and Charlie attend Loyola University in Chicago, and Portman and Fulton attend Texas A&M.

Characters/Ships: Julie/Portman, Guy/Connie, Charlie/Connie, Luis, Fulton, and many other Ducks team members.

And now, on to the story…

**Chapter 1: DP9521**

In her best Meg Ryan voice, Julie said aloud, "What will DP9521 say today?" The dorm room was empty, but the sun shone through the window, filling the room with bright sunlight; Spring had arrived. The glare on her computer screen was unbearable, so she unplugged her laptop and carried it over to her bed to surf the internet wirelessly. On her screen was a message from Connie, who was most likely in the computer lab.

_IceQueenM: Jules, if anyone calls for me, I'll be in around 5. I have to finish up this lab report with my lab group._

_Autoresponse_ _from MaineSqueeze: In lab, be back at 3pm_ – _last class of dead week! Finals start Monday!_

Julie laughed at Connie's poor attempt to sound cool. The only person that would be calling Connie would be Charlie, and he was at practice for his club hockey team. Closing the first window, Julie found an additional message on her screen.

_DP9521: Remember how we were talking about a reunion of sorts after finals? Well, I talked to Fulton and a few others about it, and they are up for it. Will you be on tonight so that we can talk about plans? We could get a group IM going._

_Autoresponse_ _from MaineSqueeze: In lab, be back at 3pm_ – _last class of dead week!. Finals start Monday!_

Dean Portman… her new IM buddy. Several months previous, he had IMed her out of the blue, saying that he had found her IM name on her facebook . com page. It had been quite a while since she had seen him; there had been a reunion the summer before which he did not attend, but she had seen him at the Goldberg's Christmas party in Minneapolis this past Christmas. Their conversations there had been brief due to Connie's issues with Guy that had required Julie's undivided attention. After the break up of the century was completed, it had been time for Julie to travel back to Maine to be with her family. But now, in late April, she and Portman had been IMing for almost every night in the past two months. Julie found it strangely hard to sleep without an IM conversation with Portman. They even managed to IM each other late at night on the weekends. The IM conversations had not crossed over into telephone calls, but they had taken to text messaging each other on their cell phones. She knew Portman would be out of his room; she knew his class schedule as well as she knew her own. She decided to leave him a message to contact her later.

_MaineSqueeze: Hey, I'll be here at my computer all night finishing up a research paper on Vitamin Overdoses. IM me when you get back from class and dinner. _

_Autoresponse_ _from DP9521: Power hour of English Lit. BB 5:15._

Julie set to work on her research paper for Toxicology. Her major was nursing, and she was finishing up her second year in the Loyola School of Nurising in Chicago. Connie was also studying Nursing at Loyola, and was Julie's roommate in the upper classmen dorms. Charlie also attended Loyola and had taken a liking to Political Science; Law School was in his future. Portman was attending Texas A&M along with Fulton. Portman was studying Business Management but was considering a switch to Sports Management after working with the varsity athletics staff as an internship. Thankfully, he had gotten over his "grunge" period and was starting to act like a responsible adult. Well, sometimes. An IM window popped up just as Julie was beginning the section of her paper discussing iron overdoses.

_DP9521: Hey, I got out of lit early. That class makes me want to hurt someone._

_MaineSqueeze: Please, not me! I still have to use my hands to finish up this paper for my final exam!_

_DP9521: I'd never hurt my cat-lady!_

_MaineSqueeze: J So, about the reunion… dates?_

_DP9521: How about the first week after finals? That way, you could go home with Connie._

_MaineSqueeze: That's going to suck for you though._

_DP9521: eh, it's okay. My parents irritate me, and the more I'm out of the house, the better off everyone is. You know that._

_DP9521: I'll just fly up to Chi town since I have the ticket already. I'll grab my Camaro and then drive to St. Paul. My finals are over on Wed, so it will be cool._

_MaineSqueeze: Mine are over Friday. I'll probably ride with Connie and then catch a flight back to Maine_ _the next Sunday. She and I are putting a bunch of stuff in storage for the summer._

_DP9521: Man, it's been months since I've seen you! Have you changed?_

_MaineSqueeze: I've gotten even hotter than before! jk_

_DP9521: I'll be the judge of that. Any new pics on your facebook? I've got a couple from the final basketball game of the season._

_MaineSqueeze: Yeah, a couple from the ATO frat party we went to last weekend. Connie has them on her facebook._

_DP9521: k, hang on._

While Portman checked out her new pictures, she pulled up facebook . com to check out his new pictures. Amazingly, he was wearing a navy blue sport jacket, a tie, and khaki pants. His hair was styled with gel and he was smiling next to a couple of the players on the men's basketball team. Although he was just over 6'2", Portman looked like a shrimp next to the seven foot tall players. He was holding a cell phone in his hand… Julie recalled that night and remembered that he had been text messaging her to say that they had one the conference championship. She had no idea that he had still been at the game and was texting her from the arena!

_DP9521: DAMN! Guys were falling all over you that night, weren't they?_

_MaineSqueeze: Oh yeah, they were lined up around the corner to talk to me. (sarcasm) _

_MaineSqueeze: The only person who had anyone falling all over her was Connie, and I'm not sure that Charlie even counts as a guy. I felt like a hoe in that shirt. My boobs were all hanging out. _

_DP9521: No…it looks great. You look really happy and beautiful. Seriously._

_DP9521: Still there?_

_MaineSqueeze: Just wondering who you are and what you have done with the real Dean Portman. Fulton, is this you?_

_DP9521: I'm hurt L Ask me something only the real Portman would know._

_MaineSqueeze: Okay… what is my favorite romantic movie and why? And also, what sad movie can I not stand to watch?_

_DP9521: Princess Diaries II because you always wanted to be a Princess, and you can't stand to watch Armageddon and you cried for hours the last time you watched it._

_MaineSqueeze: Okay… it's really you._

Their conversation continued late into the night, but they did not discuss the pictures again. They invited a few other ducks into a private chat room and they discussed the activities for the reunion week and the out of towners agreed to stay at the St. Paul Marriot closest to Fulton's house. A party at Fulton's was planned for the first night of the reunion, Saturday, and a pool party at Adam's was planned for the following Tuesday, when his parents would be out of town. Around 3 am, Julie and Portman said goodnight in a separate window.

_DP9521: Night cat-lady. Keep your head up. The semester's almost over. And then, you'll get to see me! ;)_

_MaineSqueeze: I'm counting the seconds. (sarcasm) _

_DP9521: Again, I'm hurt! L_

_MaineSqueeze: You'll live. ;) Night Portman, ttyl_

_DP9521: Talk to you tomorrow, J. Bye!_

Julie's weekend consisted of copious amounts of studying interrupted by IM conversations with Portman and meals with Connie. "Jules, I don't know what it's going to be like seeing Guy again," Connie frowned, playing with her fries.

"MMph," Julie said, stuffing fries in her mouth and chewing. Swallowing hard and taking a swig of Coke, she said, "Yeah, Portman was asking about you guys last night. No one really knows the whole story, and I didn't know if you wanted people to know that he cheated on you, so I didn't say anything."

Connie shrugged, "Well, I figured he wouldn't run around telling people that he cheated on me repeatedly."

Julie nodded, taking a huge bite out of her hamburger. She had skipped lunch to study for a biology class, and was now starving. Connie sighed as Julie continued to stuff herself. "Well," Julie said between huge bites, "You could always convince Charlie to pretend to be your boyfriend. That always works in the movies." Her mouth was too full for Connie to see the smirk on her face.

"No, there's no way he'd do that," Connie frowned, pushing the ketchup around on her plate. Julie rolled her eyes; Connie had no idea that Charlie was madly in love with her despite his obviousness.

"Well, Connie, I guess you'll just have to handle it the old fashioned way – ignore him," Julie concluded. Connie continued to frown in deep thought until Julie leaned forward. "Look," she said softly, "I know that you're still in love with him, but I also know that you're not willing to forgive him for cheating on you a bunch of times. Connie, you have to make a decision and move on with it. Either you take him back or you move on. It's been over 4 months now!" Connie's eyes filled with tears and she nodded, swallowing hard. "Listen," Julie said, putting down her hamburger and checking her watch, "it's 4:30. Let's go back and get dressed to go to the Snu party. That should cheer us up."

Several hours and many beers later, Connie was grinding on a hot frat guy while Julie had a loudly drunk conversation with Charlie. "Dude, you should just go for it!" she yelled above the music, patting him on the shoulder. She had a tendency to say "Dude" a lot while drunk.

"But Julie, I know she's still hung up on Guy, and I don't want to be some rebound guy for her," he said, clutching his cup tightly.

"Well, convince her she's better off without him, and then you can go out. You going to finish that?" Julie asked, pointing to his full cup of keg beer. He shook his head and dumped it into her empty cup, his gaze traveling to where Connie was grinding on a different frat guy.

After Charlie walked them both home around 1 am, Julie felt wide awake… and still drunk as a skunk. Connie was asleep in her clothes and was snoring loudly on her bed. Julie had the bright idea that she should call Portman to see what he was doing. She hadn't ever called him before, but she had his number, and now seemed like an appropriate time to say hello. As the phone rang, she pouted. Why wasn't he answering? On the last ring before voicemail, he picked up, loud voices talking and laughing in the background. "Julie?" he said loudly, obviously surprised to see her number on his phone.

Hey! I called to tell you how drunk I am!" she said, laughing loudly as Connie snored on.

"Oh really?" he chuckled, "Fulton is playing in a pool tournament, and I'm here watching and getting pretty drunk too. Are you in your room?"

Julie flopped down on her bed and said, "Yeah. Hey, Connie made out with some random guy tonight. It was funny. Charlie was really mad and made us go home."

"You didn't make out with anyone, did you?" Portman asked, almost immediately.

Sinking down in drunken sleepiness, Julie said, "No." And before she could stop herself, she said, "But you should come party with us so that I could make out with _you._"

He paused for a second, trying not to laugh, and said, "So if I were there right now, you'd make out with me?"

Closing her eyes drowsily, she continued, "Of course I would, you're hot."

"So as long as someone is hot, you'll make out with them?" he asked, stepping outside of the crowded pool hall to get some fresh air. His heart was pounding and his stomach was feeling a little funny. Not good, but not bad.

"No," she said, nearly whispering as she tried to stay awake, "No, just you. I have to go to sleep now, Portman. I'm so tired." He smiled a strange type of happy and sad smile.

"Good night Julie," he whispered.

"G'night Deeeeeeeeeean." He listened as she yawned, ending the call.

* * *

"…dude, you know what I always say," Fulton said as they dressed the next morning in their dorm room.

"I know, I know, a drunk chick never lies," Portman repeated, rolling his eyes, "but she was sooooo trashed."

Fulton looked over at him, "Dude, she was awake enough to pick up her phone and call you, wasn't she?"

Portman frowned. "Dude, they don't call it a drunk dial for nothing," he said, tying his shoe.

* * *

"Oh Connie, why did I say that? I can't believe I told him that I wanted to make out with him!" Julie moaned, pulling her sheet over her face.

Connie rolled over on her side to face Julie. With a smirk, she asked, "Well, do you?"

Julie paused for a second and groaned, "Yes!"

Connie screamed, launching a pillow over at her roommate. "You like Portman!" she screeched, launching another pillow.

Julie pulled the sheet off her face and looked over at Connie. "Don't tell anyone, please?" she begged.

"Of course I won't. You have too much dirt on me," Connie replied, smiling.

* * *

In an effort to do some damage control, Julie touched on the subject of the phone call later that night in an IM conversation with Portman.

_MaineSqueeze: BTW, sorry for the drunk dial last night._

_DP9521: Don't worry about it._

_MaineSqueeze: And about what I said…_

They both paused. "Should I tell him I meant it?" she asked herself. "Do drunk chicks always tell the truth?" Portman pondered.

_DP9521: Like I said, don't worry about it._

_DP9521: Besides, I thought it was cute._

_MaineSqueeze: You did?_

_DP9521: Yes, I did._

_DP9521: So, how's studying going?_

And with that, the Drunk Dial fiasco was over before it even started. They both allowed the subject to change and sadly continued on with the topic of final exams. Nothing could really ever happen between a bash brother and the cat-lady, could it?

To be continued…


	2. BONUS: I Should Stop Drunk Dialing

Hi readers!! Here is another BONUS chapter!! I realized that I didn't have enough lead in for the story, so I want to build that up some. I hope you find Julie to be slightly annoying at the beginning of this chapter… that was the goal. Sometimes us ladies can be annoying when we are drunk, even though we think it's flirty at the time. Never fear though, Dean is a wonderful man. ;)

**BONUS CHAPTER: I Should Stop Drunk Dialing**

Finally leaving the ATO party when all the kegs had been floated, Julie and Connie stumbled into their dorm room together, giggling about a dumb freshman girl who had passed out on the couch and ended up with male body parts drawn on her face.

They both flopped down on their beds, exhausted and giddy. The party had been busted by the cops twice for noise complaints, both times Connie and Julie hiding in an upstairs closet to avoid an underage drinking arrest. ATO parties were always exciting, but this one had been over the top. Not to mention, Charlie and his disapproving glare had been absent. Connie had pulled her usual drunken make out session, but Julie had danced the night away with several guys in between epic games of beer pong.

"This night couldn't get any better," Connie sighed happily.

"I should call Dean," Julie blurted out.

"Doooooo it," Connie encouraged, rolling over so she could see Julie.

Julie nodded with resolve, pulling her cell phone out of her pocket and squinting to read the letters on the screen. "Ohhhh, he texted me!"

"What does it say?!" Connie asked, her eyes wide.

"Just says, 'Hey babe, what are you up to tonight?'" Julie read, still squinting.

"Babe?" Connie raised her eyebrows.

"He always calls me that when we text!" Julie giggled, "I'm calling him now. Pretend you're not here!"

The phone only rang twice before he picked up, as if he had been expecting her call.

"Hey," he answered, his voice soft and deep.

"Hey Dean," Julie replied, trying to sound cool, "I just got back and saw your text."

"What did you girls do tonight? Saturday, big frat party night?" He asked. Julie heard a door shut in the background.

"We went to the ATO party. Charlie wasn't there to judge us, so we had a fun time," Julie said, causing Connie to snicker.

"Uh oh," Portman chuckled, "Did you behave yourself?"

"I did, but Connie didn't!"

Portman laughed as he heard Connie yell in the background. He found himself again jealous that he wasn't there and relieved that Julie hadn't made out with anyone. This crush he had going on was developing into a full blown infatuation, and he didn't know what to think about it.

"So, what did you and Fulton do tonight?"

He knew she was trying to change the subject and hide the fact that Connie was listening to everything she said. He couldn't help but smile. "Oh, we went to a bonfire party at some dude's house. We just got home a little bit ago too."

"Did you make out with anyone?" Julie asked, sounding serious.

"No, babe, I didn't," Portman laughed again.

"Because if I'm not allowed to, then you're not allowed to," Julie pouted.

"I never said you weren't allowed to," Portman said, looking over to Fulton, who was sitting on their balcony smoking. Fulton leaned forward in interest, but Portman pointed at the phone and mouthed the word "Drunk." Fulton nodded with a smile and leaned back in his seat.

"But you don't want me to, do you?" She prodded, trying to get him to admit his jealousy.

"Jules, you can do whatever you want to do," he said, wondering how she'd gotten this idea in her head that he had some kind of claim over her.

"You frustrate me, Dean Portman," She said, slurring her words a bit.

"Baby, you frustrate me every day," he laughed. This had been their game throughout high school… one always being attracted to the other, but never at the same time. They had never admitted it or talked about it, but Goldberg (of all people!) had pointed it out to Dean during their junior year at Eden Hall, and he had been observing the phenomenon ever since.

Julie huffed loudly into the phone, looking over to Connie for moral support. However, Connie was now drooling all over her pillow, having fallen asleep without undressing.

"What are you doing for Spring Break?" she asked him, hoping he would think she was changing the subject.

"Fulton and I are driving to Mexico for the week. What are you doing?"

"I wanted you to come and see me," she pouted, "Connie wants me to go to Minneapolis with her and my parents want me to come home. I don't want to do either, but I do want to see you."

Portman looked over at Fulton incredulously, shaking his head. "I would love to see you, but I already made plans with Fulton. Plus, I am not in the mood to see my parents."

"But I miss you," she said softly, yawning.

"You should go to sleep, babe."

"Why?" she whined.

"Because you're drunk off your ass, that's why," he said, his voice sounding a little too harsh.

"Oh." Julie said, hurt by his tone.

Portman had instantly regretted snapping at her. "I'm sorry, babe. Why don't you go to bed and then text me when you get up tomorrow." His voice was soft again. Fulton smirked behind his cigarette; Portman had been in love with the Cat Lady forever, and two years of college hadn't changed that fact.

Fulton didn't hear Julie's response, but he heard Portman say, "I'll talk to you tomorrow. Bye, babe."

Portman blew out a breath after snapping his phone shut. "Damn, sometimes she is so clingy when she's drunk!"

Totally not expecting that from Portman, Fulton laughed through a choking cough, flicking his cigarette butt off the balcony. "You two are ridiculous!"

"What the hell, dude?" Portman bristled.

"You guys act like boyfriend and girlfriend sometimes, and at other times you push each other away! I don't know how either of you know where you stand with the other."

Portman paused. "We DON'T know where we stand with each other, and that's the problem."

"She's going to hate herself tomorrow for acting like an idiot," Fulton predicted.

"Oh, she's totally going to hate herself, which is why I made her get off the phone before she said anything stupid. Most of the time she's pretty funny when she drunk dials me, sometimes she's crazy like this and I think it has something to do with Connie. Connie isn't exactly the best role model."

Fulton nodded. "Connie's pretty damaged when it comes to guys. Guy screwed things up pretty badly from what I've heard. No one knows for sure, but the rumors are that he cheated on her a couple of times."

"Great, just what Julie needs. Advice from a man-hater." Portman rolled his eyes.

* * *

Julie's head was pounding and it felt like someone had turned on some rink spotlights and aimed them at her. She rolled over and pulled the blankets over her face. Snippets of a weird phone conversation with Dean surfaced as the last thing she could remember before falling asleep. "Thank goodness that was a dream," she thought to herself and went back to sleep.

Dean was tired of waiting for Julie to wake up; it was already past 1 pm Texas time. He sent her a simple text asking her if she was awake, knowing that he sound of her phone would probably awaken her. A few seconds later came her reply.

_Hey, u. Just woke up. Had a crazy night. What did u guys do?_

Dean almost laughed out loud. Julie typically always remembered her drunk dials, but it seemed that this one was missing from her brain.

_Bonfire. Don't u remember calling me?_

Julie froze. "Oh shit," she whispered.

_Oh no. I thought I dreamed that. I'm such an idiot. U should stop answering the phone when I call u._

Dean's smirk softened to the smile he reserved only for her.

_I like talking to u, even if u r trashed and acting like a psycho._

Julie's stomach knotted. It seemed that she really had acted like a crazy, clingy girlfriend on the phone with him. She was really going to have to stop calling him after going out.

_I'm so sorry. I acted like an idiot. I feel so stupid._

If he could have reached out and hugged her, he would have.

_It's ok babe. I didn't take anything u said srsly. No worries._

Julie was mortified. She pulled her blankets over her head again and curled up into a ball, cradling her phone to her chest in case Dean texted her again. To her surprise, the phone rang, and she saw that it was Dean.

She paused for a second and then pressed the green button to accept the call. "I need to stop calling you," she said softly.

"No you don't," he replied, his voice equally soft as he sat in the living room of his and Fulton's empty apartment.

"I'm sorry I got all crazy," she said, cringing at the thought of what she said to him.

"We're both a little crazy sometimes," he chuckled.

They both were silent for a few seconds, neither knowing what to say to the other. Every time something like this happened, they would both freak out and push each other away. They'd done it multiple times in high school, the last time being during Julie's relationship with Scooter. Julie didn't know that it had happened, but Dean remembered his feelings quite clearly.

"Um, I just wanted to let you know that my Spring Break plans have changed a little. Fulton and I are still going to Mexico, but I have to fly home for a night or two to take care of my sister while Mom and Dad are on their cruise. My brother has to go on a business trip to Indiana and can't stay with her."

Julie remembered asking Dean to come see her over Spring Break and found it interesting that he was keeping her updated on his plans. She remained silent for a minute to figure out where he was going with the conversation.

The silence unnerved him, so he continued talking. "So… I was thinking maybe if you had decided to stay in Chicago… um, maybe we could hang out?" He felt like an idiot the instant the words came out of his mouth. He was thankful that Fulton wasn't home to see him blushing.

Her smile was so big that it made her head hurt. She forced her voice to sound nonchalant. "I'm staying here, so yeah, that would be cool."

"Cool." He replied, his heart pounding. Shaking his head, he said to himself, "You've been trying to do this for years… don't screw it up this time, Portman."

More bonuses to come!!


	3. The Longest Night

Thanks for the reviews so far!

**Chapter 2: The longest night**

Finals had ended, grades were entered, and Connie and Julie were cruising through St. Paul in Connie's Miata, which had once been her mom's. It was just warm enough outside to have the top down, so they enjoyed the cool Minnesota breeze whipping their long hair all around. "We're supposed to meet at Fulton's house at 4:30, want to go change?" Connie asked, exiting the highway onto a side street.

"That's fine. I'll probably wear what I have on," Julie said, looking down at the aqua tunic, jeans, and leather sandals that she was wearing. Connie was still pretty much wearing pajamas due to her reluctance to get out of bed that morning. They had left Chicago early to arrive in St. Paul at a decent hour.

Julie knew Connie was eager to look hot in an effort to make Guy jealous. She had refrained from commenting on Connie's plan, but she and Portman had discussed it at length the previous night on IM. Portman was already at Fulton's house, so Fulton had joined in on the conversation also. They had all agreed that this plan was going to blow up in Connie's face, especially since Fulton had heard from Goldberg that Guy had a new girlfriend. Julie pondered the situation while reapplying her make up in Connie's bathroom. Connie was jabbering about not knowing what to wear as she flipped through a Cosmo while lying on her excessively fluffy bed. Silently thankful that she was staying in her own hotel room, Julie said, "How about that cute yellow tank top you have and some jeans or capris and sandals?"

Connie frowned, "You think that will be okay?"

Julie had to force herself to not roll her eyes; she had never known Connie to be so insecure, "Yes, you'll look great."

Around 4:15, they pulled up in front of Fulton's house on the south side of St. Paul, top down for "maximum drama" as Connie had said. Fulton, Portman, Luis, Averman, Guy, Charlie, Dwayne, and Russ were all out in Fulton's driveway, playing shirts and skins basketball. Adding to Julie's slightly nervous stomach was Portman, shirtless and sweaty. She had seen him shirtless many times in the locker room after practice and games, but it had been almost two years since she had see him so… exposed. "Hey Cat-lady! Up for some hoops? You can be on my team, but you gotta lose the shirt!" Portman yelled, tossing her the ball.

She knew her face was bright red, but she laughed to cover it, passing the ball back to him. Connie grabbed her arm tightly and whispered, "Is that a hickey on Guy's chest?" The look on Connie's face was one of horror as she watched the guys go back to playing. Julie looked at Guy for a second and noticed a second hickey on his neck, but she didn't dare point it out.

"I'm not sure Con…" she whispered, pulling Connie into the garage to greet a few others.

The basketball game ended when Goldberg announced that the brats and burgers were done. To Julie's relief, Portman was wearing his shirt again and was dry and smelling like "clean man" and cologne. "Hey," he said, smiling a wide grin as he reached out to hug her, "Sorry for the poor greeting earlier. Averman was trying to cheat!" Her heart beat increased just slightly in response to his quick hug. "So, how are things?" he whispered, their eyes traveling over to the drink table where Connie was flirting with Luis right in Guy's line of sight.

"Ugh, she won't stop talking about it," Julie replied, dumping some chips on her plate. Portman followed her out to the patio where they joined Charlie and Goldberg, who were whispering furiously about something.

"Well, well, boys, finally ready to reveal your gay romance to the team?" Portman said, setting down his pop as Julie tried not to laugh.

"Ha. Ha," Goldberg said sarcastically, "No, you goon, we're talking about a problem Charlie's got."

Popping the top on his pop can and taking a drink, Portman leaned forward and said, "That wouldn't be a cute, dark haired, right wing kind of problem, would it?"

Charlie frowned and said, "Did _she_ tell you?" nodding at Julie. Chewing his burger, which was dripping with ketchup, Portman shook his head.

"No dude, you gave it away when you stared at her when she walked up the driveway. I'm no genius, but I'm not stupid when it comes to stuff like that."

Fulton, Portman, and Charlie built a bonfire as the sun started to drop below the fence line. Julie and Connie leaned against each other on one of the lounge chairs, Connie shivering in Luis's jacket. Julie saw Charlie sneaking glances over at Connie, who was looking a bit like a melted prom queen, almost as if someone had sucked the happiness out of her. "Connie," Julie whispered, linking an arm through her best friend's, "You've got to let go." Connie's watery eyes were fixed on Guy, who was talking on his cell phone in hushed tones, smiling as if he were talking to someone special.

Fulton interrupted before Connie could respond. "Fulton to the rescue! Keeping ladies warm _all night long._ Haven't you always wanted your very own Bash Brother?" Fulton asked suggestively, escorting them to the chairs by the fire.

"I've got my own, thank you very much," Julie said, winking in an exaggerated fashion and linking her arm through Portman's.

"Oh ho!" Goldberg laughed, throwing a marshmallow at Fulton, "you were just owned!"

The glow of the fire illuminated the faces of the group as they chatted and roasted marshmallows. Julie was wrapped in Portman's North Face jacket, which he had retrieved from his car for her. Connie had looked at her knowingly when Portman stepped away. "He likes you and I think you like him back," she whispered, leaning over to Julie, who shook her head.

"He's just being nice. Besides, you have on Luis's jacket," Julie argued, her teeth chattering.

"And Luis has been in love with me since the first time we met!" Connie chuckled, leaning back as Portman returned with the jacket.

A few minutes later, Adam Banks arrived, looking as if he had ran the whole way to Fulton's. "Hey, sorry I'm so late! But to make it up to you all, I brought this!" he said, pulling out 3 1/5 bottles of alcohol.

Connie clapped her hands, coming to life. "Just what I need to forget about Guy," she whispered to Julie, holding out her half empty cup of coke for Adam to fill with whiskey. Julie caught Portman's eyes and both teammates frowned at Connie's impending drunkenness.

Julie had never seen Connie act this way; after several glasses of what appeared to be almost straight whiskey, Connie was sitting in a chair and leaning over her knees, crying almost hysterically. Most of the rest of the guys were playing a drunken game of basketball except Charlie, Portman, Fulton, and Luis. "Connie, honey, I can't understand what you're saying. You have to stop crying or you're going to make yourself sick," Julie said to her soothingly, rubbing her back.

"He doesn't love me anymore," she wailed, breathing hard.

"Come on Connie, let's go for a walk," Luis said, helping her up. Before Julie could stop them, Connie and Luis were exiting the back yard.

"Come on Fulton, let's go join the game," Charlie said, pretending not to care, leaving Portman and Julie alone at the bonfire.

"I'm worried," she whispered.

"Because she likes to make out with people while she's drunk?" he asked, sitting down next to her on a bench seat. Julie nodded and frowned. "So how about you?" Portman smirked, picking up the half empty vodka bottle and offering it to her.

"Portman," Julie said sternly, trying not to giggle.

"What?" Portman asked, putting on his best innocent face. After a few seconds of feigned anger, Julie dissolved into laughter, causing Portman to smile more.

Grabbing one of the marshmallow pokers, Portman prodded the burning logs, which were now glowing red, a sign that the hour was late. "So how have you been… really?" Portman asked, nudging her with his shoulder.

Julie pondered the question before answering somewhat honestly. "Good… a little lonely. Connie is so into guys right now that it just makes me feel lonely. And I miss being close to someone and being loved and hugged and protected…" she drifted off, having said more than she intended. She stared into the fire, fighting off the strong urge to kiss Portman. Nothing good could come from a relationship with a fellow duck, as evidenced by Connie and Guy.

"Us talking all the time keeps me from being lonely. I'm sure I've never told you this, but I have a lot of fun talking to you. I'm learning a lot about you crazy chicks," Portman grinned, earning a hard whack from Julie. His arm was almost around her waist when Connie stumbled back up and plopped down in a chair.

"I want to go home, Julie," she wailed.

Glancing over at Portman, Julie said in a whisper, "I can't take her to her house like this! Her parents will flip! What can I do?" They helped Connie stand up again and slowly began the walk to the car.

"Well, she's just going to have to stay with you tonight," Portman said, seeing Julie's look of complete panic, "and don't worry, I'm going to help you."

"See you in the morning, guys," Portman said to the crowd of guys as Connie continued to wail. Guy shook his head, a look of disgust on his face.

Julie, already angry enough at Connie, let go of the side of Connie that she was supporting and went after Guy. "It's your fault she's like this!" Julie screamed, enraged.

"Julie, no!" Portman yelled, still holding on to Connie, who was wailing even louder. Julie's right fist made contact with Guy's nose, and the sickening crack was followed by blood squirting all over the driveway. "I hate your guts for what you've made her become!" she screamed again, continuing to land punches on his chest as he tried to block the punches and push her away.

"Julie!" Portman said from behind her, wrapping his arms all the way around her to stop the fighting. As he held her arms to her sides in his bear hug, she fought to get away.

"Dean, let me go!" she yelled, her eyes wild as she lunged toward Guy again. She struggled for another few seconds and again said, "Dean! Let me go!" She dissolved into tears and her body went slightly limp as she said one last time, sadly and pitifully, "Dean, please let me go." The entire group was silent as Portman lead Julie to his car. Connie was sitting on the ground, still wailing, as Charlie stood over her, trying to get her to stand up.

"Come on Jules, Charlie's going to bring Connie. Let's get you back to your room," Portman whispered in her ear, opening the car door for her and helping her climb in. He closed his own door and started the car, pulling away quickly to prevent Julie from jumping back out.

Wiping away her tears with her left hand she said softly, "I feel like such an idiot." Portman was silent for a second, not really knowing what to say.

"Well," he began, "it was a great punch."

Julie was trying very hard not to smile when she whined, "My hand hurts."

Portman continued on, trying to make her smile, "You think Connie will hurl in Charlie's car?"

Sputtering with laughter and tears, Julie said, "Oh, I'm almost sure of it."

By the time they arrived at the Marriott, Julie was slightly more cheerful, but her hand was very swollen. They arrived just after Charlie, who was helping Connie get out of the car. "I had to stop on the way so she could puke." Charlie said, looking as if he himself needed to vomit. Both Portman and Julie snickered, holding the doors open for Charlie, who was dragging Connie along. They quietly made it to room 114 and filed inside.

"Let me get her into some pajamas," Julie said, leading Connie into the bathroom. It was difficult to undress a weepy drunk while nursing a swollen hand, but Julie managed to get Connie into a pair of her shorts and a Bangor t-shirt before leading her out to one of the two double beds.

Portman was just stepping back into the room, carrying a bag of ice in the ice bucket. "Here, for your hand," he said simply, pulling out the bag and handing it to Julie. Connie moaned into the pillow and started crying again.

"It's going to be a long night… you guys up for ordering some pizza?" Julie asked, wincing as she placed the bag of ice on her hand.

"Sure," the boys said, shrugging.

* * *

"Do you think we should take her to the hospital?" Julie whispered to Portman as Connie drove the porcelain bus for the tenth time, "what if she has alcohol poisoning?"

Portman looked out at Charlie, who was asleep on the floor, drooling, and then looked back down at Connie. "I think we're just worrying," he said softly, crossing his arms and leaning against the bathroom door frame.

"I worry too much," Julie sighed, rubbing her bloodshot eyes.

"It's alright… everyone needs someone to worry about them every once in a while," Portman said, sitting back down in one of the chairs. Julie sat down on the edge of the nearest bed, pulling the covers around her shoulders. They sat in silence, not knowing what to say. Julie wanted to spill her guts about how much she'd been thinking about him, but hearing Connie crying in the bathroom reminded her that a long distance relationship would be difficult. On top of that, dating a team member looked like a pretty bad idea.

Portman, on the other hand, was doing everything he could not to slip under the covers with Julie and comfort her. She was deep in thought and her brow was furrowed. It had been so long since he had held a woman in his arms, and just thinking about her made his face a little flushed. But after what had happened with Connie and Guy, Portman knew that it would take some serious convincing to get Julie to date him long distance. It would be his summer project, he supposed. Although it would be difficult to accomplish over IM and by phone only. Perhaps he could somehow manipulate another reunion in a few months. Wasn't Bombay's first NHL game as a coach approaching? Surely the team would need to be around for that…

Their high speed thoughts were interrupted by a loud thud. Connie had fallen asleep and her head had slid off the toilet, knocking over the trash can. Portman jumped up from his chair and hurried into the bathroom. Connie snored on lazily as if nothing had happened, her body curled in a little ball in front of the toilet.

"She owes us," Julie whispered, rolling her eyes.

"Big time," Portman mumbled.

* * *

Julie awoke to a loud moan and looked over to see Connie holding her head in pain. Charlie's head appeared over the edge of the bed. He had obviously slept on the floor the entire night. Portman, however, was gone. Julie glanced around and saw a note on her bedside table. 

**Julie,**

**Since you conked out on me, I decided to go to bed.**

**Call me when you guys are ready to face the day.**

**DP**

Drowsily, Julie rolled over to glance at the clock. 10:30. They had missed breakfast at Goldberg's. Julie's slight anger at Connie increased momentarily. "Bye girls… my mom is going to kill me," Charlie said, pulling out his car keys.

"Thanks for helping take care of me," Connie croaked and Charlie's facial expression visibly softened. He walked over to her bed to hug her and whispered something in her ear that made them both blush.

Attempting to push herself up and out of bed, Julie cried out in pain, having forgotten about her swollen hand. There was a dark purple tinge across the knuckles and a couple scratches from what she figured were teeth scrapes. A knock on the door ended her examination. Figuring it was Charlie saying he'd forgotten something so he could see Connie one more time, Julie slid herself out of bed and flung open the door.

To her surprise, Portman stood at the door bearing coffee and donuts. "I couldn't let my girls skip breakfast! Besides, Connie's car is still at Fulton's," he said, smiling almost cheerfully as he walked into the room and sat down the cups and bag.

"Why are you so cheerful?" Connie pouted, lying back against her pillows.

"Because you look so incredibly _hot _this morning, Con," Portman said, slight anger in his voice.

"Shut up, you asshole. Don't be mad at me because you two can't manage to hook it up," she spat back at him.

Julie's stomach plunged, but Portman answered coolly, "Look, sweetheart, don't try to take the attention away from the fact that you screwed up last night and made yourself look like a huge idiot in front of God and everyone. Do you realize the trouble we went through for you?"

Connie pursed her lips and looked away, so Portman continued, "For starters, your best friend here punched Guy's lights out. I think she has a broken hand, so I'm taking her to Urgent Care at 2:00 pm. Charlie drove your drunk ass over here, stopping on the way so you could puke. Then, Julie and I stayed awake until about 5 am, eating cold pizza and listening to you puke, worried sick about you and wondering if we should take you to the hospital. And now, you're shitty to me? We love you Connie, but you can be a real bitch sometimes. Think about someone besides yourself for once. Charlie is madly in love with you… can you imagine how this whole thing makes him feel?"

Portman shook his head at Connie and turned to Julie, mouthing, "Sorry." Julie shrugged, smiling slightly.

"I made you an appointment at 2 pm for the urgent care place down the street… I hope you don't mind," he whispered, a little shyly after his angry outburst.

"Nah, it's fine. Thanks," Julie smiled as he examined her hand.

"See you in a little bit," he whispered, patting her on the shoulder.

Jumping in the shower to wake up, Julie thought about the past 24 hours. She really was pissed at Connie… not as pissed as Portman was, but still pretty pissed. Connie had pulled a blanket over her head and was hiding when Julie had stepped out of the bathroom after showering. She wouldn't be able to tolerate Connie this week if she continued to pout. Besides, she had other things on her mind.

To be continued…


	4. BONUS: I Think It's Broken

Okay readers! Here is the second bonus chapter! This chapter belongs within Chapter 2, The Longest Night. I'm sure you always wondered what Julie and Portman did about all night while babysitting drunk Connie! You're about to find out… Also, this helps to explain why Julie was so upset that Portman simply said she was a "fun girl" while telling her goodbye.

**BONUS CHAPTER: I Think It's Broken**

Julie rolled her eyes at Charlie, who was lying on the floor snoring. He'd eaten 3 pieces of pizza and had passed out while they watched ESPN. Connie was currently in a sleeping phase, which was nice, and they were trying not to disturb her into pukey wakefulness. Portman and Julie shared a glance and both rolled their eyes, silently communicating their mutual disdain at the situation.

Julie was sitting on the floor, leaning against the couch, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. Portman got up from his place in one of the hotel room chairs and joined her on the floor. "Let me see your hand," he whispered, holding out his hand to take hers.

She had been trying to ignore it because it was throbbing despite all of the Advil she'd taken. Portman sucked in a breath as she pulled her hand out from the blankets. "Owww, that really looks broken," he whispered, turning more toward her on the floor and taking her hand gently in both of his. She was genuinely touched by his concern, although she felt a little bit ashamed of herself for losing her temper as she did.

He must have sensed her thoughts. "It was a great punch. He totally didn't see it coming. I wouldn't be surprised if he has a huge black eye."

"I think I punched him in the mouth. These scratches look like teeth marks," she said, pointing at her hand, which Portman was still cradling.

"Okay, no wonder you did so much damage to yourself. Don't punch a guy in the jaw, way too much bone there." They both shared a small smile. Julie became suddenly aware of how close Portman's face was to hers. Her cheeks flushed and her heart pounded with nerves.

"He totally deserved it, though," Portman said softly and leaned back just a little, but still held her right hand in his left, his right hand now slowly rubbing her bare arm. _Oh my God, he's so hot,_ Julie thought to herself, allowing herself to look into his beautiful brown eyes. He looked a little terrified, which brought a smile to her face. She cut him some slack and looked away from him, releasing her intense stare.

"What is your honest opinion about this situation?" She whispered, relaxing her hand a little bit so that her fingers slipped just slightly between his. She couldn't bend her hand, so she couldn't hold his hand, but she wanted to see what it would feel like to hold Dean Portman's hand.

"Uh… what situation?" He asked, temporarily distracted by Julie's fingers intertwining with his.

"Connie and Guy, duh!" She whispered with a giggle, looking back at him.

"Um," he stalled as he tried to reel in his heart, which had jumped out of his chest. "_I thought she was talking about US… me and her!" his brain raced._

"I guess I just wonder, what self respecting girl would want to be with a person who had cheated on her twice," Portman recovered.

"Why would a guy cheat on Connie?" Julie pondered softly, in case Connie was awake.

"She's cute and all, but I don't know… she's not my type. It's hard for me to guess why he cheated on her without seeing the girls he cheated with."

"Ouch! So are you saying she's not pretty enough for Guy?" Julie was baiting him, and she knew it. She moved to withdraw her hand from his, but he held onto her arm, careful not to squeeze her injured hand.

"That's not what I'm saying and you know that," he said in an exasperated whisper, his mouth softening into a smile at Julie's smug look, "And quit twisting my words around."

"Sorry, it was just too easy." She smiled again, relaxing back into her original position, allowing her shoulder to touch his.

They remained silent as they watched the weekly sports highlights, her hand still in his. After a few minutes, she sighed sleepily and leaned into him, her head finding a place on his shoulder. A small smile played at his features; he was going to count to ten and then put his arm around her.

A loud thump startled them and they jumped apart guiltily before running toward the bed. Seeing Connie crawl into the bathroom, they both paused, sighing in exasperation.

"Do you think we should take her to the hospital?" Julie whispered to Portman as Connie drove the porcelain bus for the tenth time, "what if she has alcohol poisoning?"

Portman looked out at Charlie, who was asleep on the floor, drooling, and then looked back down at Connie. "I think we're just worrying," he said softly, crossing his arms and leaning against the bathroom door frame.

"I worry too much," Julie sighed, rubbing her bloodshot eyes.

"It's alright… everyone needs someone to worry about them every once in a while," Portman said, sitting back down in one of the chairs. Julie sat down on the edge of the nearest bed, pulling the covers around her shoulders. They sat in silence, not knowing what to say. Julie wanted to spill her guts about how much she'd been thinking about him, but hearing Connie crying in the bathroom reminded her that a long distance relationship would be difficult. On top of that, dating a team member looked like a pretty bad idea.

Portman, on the other hand, was doing everything he could not to slip under the covers with Julie and comfort her. She was deep in thought and her brow was furrowed. It had been so long since he had held a woman in his arms, and just thinking about her made his face a little flushed. But after what had happened with Connie and Guy, Portman knew that it would take some serious convincing to get Julie to date him long distance. It would be his summer project, he supposed. Although it would be difficult to accomplish over IM and by phone only. Perhaps he could somehow manipulate another reunion in a few months. Wasn't Bombay's first NHL game as a coach approaching? Surely the team would need to be around for that…

Their high speed thoughts were interrupted by another loud thud. Connie had fallen asleep and her head had slid off the toilet, knocking over the trash can. Portman jumped up from his chair and hurried into the bathroom. Connie snored on lazily as if nothing had happened, her body curled in a little ball in front of the toilet.

"She owes us," Julie whispered, rolling her eyes.

"Big time," Portman mumbled.


	5. You Blew It

Sorry if this chapter seems a bit rushed. I don't want to spend the whole story on this reunion week of theirs. There are better parts to come.

**Chapter 3: You Blew It**

Wearing her painstakingly selected, sexy-yet-tasteful one piece swimsuit, Julie slid onto a raft that was floating in the Banks' pool. She and Connie had been the first to arrive to Tuesday's pool party. Things were not completely back to normal between the girls, but the previous night's dinner at Mickey's had gone well and everyone had been in happy moods, resulting in most of the guys being nice to Connie. Glad that Portman was now able to talk to Connie without sneering angrily, Julie allowed herself to forgive Connie a little. After Connie's tearful apology that morning, Julie was sure that things would be back to normal after a few more days.

Julie's hand had turned out to be slightly fractured, but a cast wasn't needed for more than a day or two. She had taken off the soft cast and left it in her beach bag to prevent it from getting wet in the pool. Besides, who wanted that tan line? Connie was inside the house helping Banks set up the food as Julie reclined on the chair shaped raft, closing her eyes behind her sunglasses and enjoying the warmth of the Minnesota sun. She spread her dark blonde hair out on the back of the raft in an attempt to get some natural highlights; they were a lot cheaper than the ones that came from a bottle. She heard a couple car doors slam shut, but she remained on the raft, relaxing and blocking out the world. Connie giggled loudly from inside the house.

About 5 minutes later, Portman crept out onto the deck, knowing that Julie was in the pool alone. He didn't want her to know that he was checking her out or that he and Fulton were about to get her totally soaked. Fulton arrived at his side and they shared a quiet high five before sprinting at the pool. Fulton let out a Tarzan yell just before he and Portman cannonballed into the water, covering an unsuspecting Julie with cold pool water. She sat up and let out a bloodcurdling scream just before Fulton flipped her raft, sending her tumbling into the cold water and Portman's arms. Pulling off her sunglasses and pushing her sopping hair out of her face, Julie let out a growl just before pushing away from Portman with her feet. He was still laughing hysterically at her while others stood around the pool, joining in the laughter.

"You think it's funny?" Julie yelled, grabbing Averman by the legs and pulling him into the pool. He emerged with a splash and a sputter before pulling in Jesse, who grabbed on to Russ as he fell. Pretty soon, the entire group was splashing in the pool and laughing.

"You are _so_ in trouble," Julie said quietly to Portman as they floated in the deep end.

"What's the matter? Cats don't like water?" Portman teased, poking her in the side. Jumping on him as best she could, Julie wrapped her arm around his neck to pull him under the water, sending herself under in the process. Under the water, he tickled her furiously until they came back up seconds later. Julie was laughing breathlessly, holding her sides. "That'll teach you to dunk me!" Portman said, sending a stream of water at her with his hand.

After lunch, Julie and Connie crawled back on two rafts and floated in the deep end, watching the guys play water basketball in the shallow end. Julie looked around at the modern style mansion that the Banks' lived in but didn't feel jealous. She loved her parents' New England style cottage just as much. Sure, it didn't have 10 bedrooms, but there was more than enough room for the entire family. She looked over at Connie, who, behind her sunglasses, seemed to be watching the guys play. Julie pulled her raft close to Connie's and hooked her arm through Connie's to keep from floating away. Connie looked over at her best friend and smiled gratefully, still ashamed of herself.

"So who's winning?" Julie asked, looking out at the boys.

"I don't know, I'm not really paying attention to the game," Connie said, somewhat dreamily.

"Well, what _are_ you paying attention to, Con?" Julie asked, trying to follow Connie's eyes.

"Don't tell," she whispered, "Banks."

Julie gasped before she could stop herself and Connie laughed, turning to face her friend. "But what about Charlie?" Julie asked, eager to talk about him now that Portman had spilled the beans on Charlie's feelings about Connie.

"He's… too perfect, Jules. He's been my best friend for so long and he deserves someone perfect, like Linda was," Connie said, referring to Charlie's former high school sweetheart. Julie caught Portman's eyes as he glanced over to smile at the girls. Connie was intent on looking at Banks, so she missed Julie's "we need to talk" look to Portman. He nodded ever so slightly, acknowledging her look.

"So, what about you and Portman?" Connie asked, bringing Julie out of her thoughts.

"What about us?" Julie asked, hoping to avoid any more questions.

"Don't try to fool me. I know you like him and I can tell he likes you. He's totally protective of you!" Connie said, pulling her sunglasses down on her nose to look as Julie.

"He's just being nice," Julie said, eager to get off the subject, "besides, we live like one thousand miles apart during the majority of the year."

Connie paused for a minute and smirked, "You're afraid you're going to end up like me!" Julie protested, but Connie held up her hand. "Julie…" Connie began, the tone of her voice becoming serious and softer, "You can't avoid a relationship just because it might be hard. Just because Guy cheated on me doesn't mean Portman would, and if it weren't for the cheating, we'd still be together. And I truly believe that even if we had lived just 5 minutes apart, he still would have cheated. So don't miss out on something that could be great. Besides, we're not going to be in college forever, and you can be a nurse anywhere." Julie frowned, considering what Connie had just said. Perhaps her friend was right, but she was still afraid to take the chance.

Tuesday turned into Wednesday and pretty soon, it was Saturday night and the team was celebrating their last night together at Mickey's. Julie was a nervous wreck and was almost trembling, sitting in the booth, Connie on her right, Portman on her left. They were crammed into the small booths; Julie's leg was right up against Portman's and neither of them had made an effort to give the other more room. Julie was sure Portman could feel her shaking, but he didn't say anything. It was approaching midnight when Ken left to head back to the hotel to pack and get some sleep; he had to catch an 8 am flight to LA. Luis was next, hugging Connie goodbye and landing a kiss on her cheek. Charlie's face flushed slightly, but in a moment it was gone.

At 1 am, Connie looked down at her watch and said, "Jules, you ready?" Portman looked over at Julie, a slightly startled look on his face. He knew that she had a 10:30 am flight back to Bangor, but he just hadn't expected to be filled with so much regret at her departure. He had so much to say, so much to do, and now, his time had run out. "I – I'll walk you out," he said softly, catching Connie's eye quickly.

"I'll meet you out there in a few minutes," Connie whispered to Julie, understanding Portman's desire to be alone with Julie.

Portman followed Julie to the lot across the street where Connie's car was parked. They were silent for a few seconds, awkwardly avoiding each other's eyes. "Well, um," Portman said, faltering. Should he tell her that he couldn't get her out of his mind? Would she feel the same way he did? He hadn't exactly felt this way about anyone before, and frankly, he was a bit terrified by the whole thing. Julie looked up at him expectantly. If he said he liked her, she would tell him how she felt. However, she wasn't going to be the one to bring it up in case Connie had been totally wrong. "Julie, I –" Portman faltered again, not able to bring himself to tell her his feelings, "I had a great time with you this week. You're a really fun girl." A fun girl? He mentally kicked himself.

Her heart sank into her stomach. A fun girl? Is that all? Any chance of salvaging the conversation was lost when Charlie and Goldberg loudly exited Mickey's. Connie followed, looking slightly angry at the two boys for ruining what she thought would be Julie and Portman's first kiss. "Well, um, have a safe flight. IM me when you get home," Portman said, giving Julie a quick and painfully awkward hug before walking away.

"Bye," Julie whispered sadly.

"Well? What did he say?" Connie asked as they climbed into the car.

"That I'm a fun girl," Julie said, sighing.

"Didn't he tell you that he likes you?" Connie said incredulously. Julie merely shook her head, looking out the car window as they pulled away.

"Portman, you idiot! You blew it!" Fulton yelled at him as they got into Portman's Camaro.

"I know dude," Portman mumbled, starting the car.

As Julie boarded the airplane the next morning, waving goodbye to Connie, she looked around sadly. She had dreamed that Portman had appeared at the airport, confessing his love for her over the intercom. But, alas, there was no Portman. She took one last sad look back at the terminal before the stewardess closed the door.

To be continued…


	6. I Should Tell You

I'm not overly pleased with how this chapter turned out, so this one may be edited in the future, but I didn't want to hold up the story just for this one chapter. I'm not the best at transition chapters. BTW, the chapter title is a reference to Rent, which Aaron Lohr (Dean Portman) was in. All you Connie/Charlie shippers will be happier with this story after this chapter is over.

LadyJea – Thanks for the very constructive review. I totally agree with you on the dialog formatting, and I'm going to go back and update the previous chapters. I wasn't sure how to correctly address the fact that more than one person was speaking in a paragraph, so I always just ran them together. It's not so bad written on paper, but typed, it's very hard to see, and I knew it but didn't know what was correct. Ew, and I just looked at the previous chapters on and boy, they look horrible! I'll get them fixed soon.

As for the Adam/Connie/Charlie thing, in this fic, Adam and Charlie aren't too close. Adam is in the minors, Charlie is in Chicago with the girls. Connie will only really have a short fling with Adam, which will be talked about more in Chapter 5. It's just more of a side note in the story because that's how I want it to feel in the grand scheme of the story. Portman and Julie have this relationship where they have always had these romantic feelings for each other, but for one reason or another, they just never acted on them, but they were never really close friends like Connie and Charlie. They have more of a tension between them than Charlie and Connie, who basically will end up together without much fanfare and are a "comfortable" couple. As if for years, everyone always said they'd be together, and everyone will say "well, duh" when they do get together. To Connie, Guy was this sexy guy with whom she had that romantic tension. Losing him after being together for so long was a huge blow, which is why she felt the need to get trashed after seeing him at the party. She will have to come to terms with the fact that love isn't always super romantic and exciting and sexy; sometimes it's falling asleep while watching TV and feeding the dog and washing the dishes, etc. In chapter 5, she has some pretty good insights on love that she gives to Julie. But I don't want to spoil it! ;)

**Chapter 4: I Should Tell You**

A month passed by slowly as Julie and Portman worked to repair the slight strain on their friendship that had been caused by their final night in Minneapolis. Julie hadn't been eager to talk the first few days after returning to Maine, but slowly, they were able to clear away the awkwardness of their IM conversations. They even had a few telephone conversations that had been filled with joking and laughter.

Things hadn't worked out for Connie and Adam, but Connie wasn't overly upset about the whole situation, but she did swear that she wasn't going to date anyone for a year. Julie, of course, knew better. She was sure that life in the off campus apartment they would be sharing was going to be interesting and that Connie would not be able to stay single for long; she never did.

Connie, despite her own problems, was constantly prodding Julie for details on her conversations with Portman. There wasn't really much to tell, that is, until one sweltering night in late July. Julie had been thinking about Portman a little more than average that day, and not all of her thoughts have been innocent. As they IMed late that night, Julie's thoughts drifted off to her memories of Portman in the pool at Adam's house in May.

_DP9521: You're pretty quiet tonight. What's up?_

_MaineSqueeze: Oh, just thinking about things._

_DP9521: What kinds of things?_

_MaineSqueeze: Oh, not much. Just feeling a little "lonely" if you catch my drift._

She wasn't sure why she had typed it, and she cringed after hitting enter.

_DP9521: LOL! How long has it been for you?_

_MaineSqueeze: NOYB!_

_DP9521: Oh, come on Jules. It's been over a year for me. Now, your turn._

_MaineSqueeze: Oh, alright. It's been since fall of freshman year. A party hookup that I still regret to this day. You?_

_DP9521: A girl I just couldn't manage to force myself to be in love with._

_MaineSqueeze: Why not?_

_DP9521: We were too different. We wanted different things._

_DP9521: What about Scooter?_

_MaineSqueeze: Only once, our senior year._

_DP9521: I should tell you… I was so jealous._

_MaineSqueeze: Why?_

_DP9521: Because he got to you before I could. Stupid preppy._

_MaineSqueeze: I didn't even think you were interested in dating back then. _

_MaineSqueeze: You were all about hockey and hanging out with Fulton. I never even knew you liked me._

_DP9521: Well, now you know._

_MaineSqueeze: I should tell you… that night, our senior year, the night it was snowing like crazy…I hadn't really come over to borrow Fulton_'_s Chem book. I was really over to see you._

_DP9521: Well, then why didn't you say anything to me about it!_

_MaineSqueeze: I was afraid you wouldn't like me_

_MaineSqueeze: Same reason I…_

_DP9521: You what?_

_MaineSqueeze: Never mind_

_DP9521: I know what you were going to say…_

Both of their hearts were pounding and Julie's hands were sweating. In Chicago, heat lightning lit up the sky, and Portman glanced out his second story window before continuing.

_DP9521: because it's exactly what I haven't said and for the same reason._

_MaineSqueeze: Well, I have other reasons for not saying it too_

_DP9521: Maybe you should just say it._

_MaineSqueeze: Maybe YOU should._

_DP9521: Maybe you already know._

_MaineSqueeze: Maybe I want to hear you say it._

_DP9521: Well then, I should tell you…_

They both took a deep breath and Julie covered her mouth with her hand, shaking her leg nervously. Portman paused before hitting enter.

_DP9521: that I've liked you since the second I met you._

Both had wide, goofy smiles on their faces and Julie couldn't help but squeal happily before bringing the conversation back to reality.

_MaineSqueeze: I feel the same. But I've never wanted to say anything because we live so far away._

_DP9521: Don't think we could do it or don't you trust me?_

_MaineSqueeze: It's just… Connie and Guy_

_DP9521: Jules… I'm not him. And I don't want anyone else but you._

_MaineSqueeze: I still don't think it's a good idea._

_DP9521: Then I guess I'll just have to convince you._

They had ended their conversation around 3 am so Portman would be able to wake up for work in the morning. He was interning with the Chicago Blackhawks and was also doing some game day commentary for a local Chicago radio station. He had said goodbye, vowing to change her mind about things. "Hey, you can listen to me tomorrow at 5 pm. They have the commentary streaming on the Blackhawks website. You should listen; you might enjoy it," he had typed. Julie was supposed to take her sister shopping, but made it a point to be back by the time the commentary started.

"And with us again today is Dean Portman, one of the famous Bash Brothers from the Mighty Ducks peewee hockey team, Team USA Ducks, and the Eden Hall Ducks. Dean is attending Texas A&M University, studying business. How's it going Dean?" The host began, Julie settling herself down on her bed, putting ESPN 2 on mute so that she could watch the game too. Portman and the host went on about the Blackhawks for quite a while before the end of the first period arrived.

"So, Dean, any news on the Ducks?" the host asked.

"Well Bob, Guy and Goldberg are in Philly, Banks is in the minors in St. Paul, Charlie is here at Loyola and plays on a club hockey team…" Portman listed off before being interrupted.

"What about Julie the cat?" the host asked, "I heard a rumor that you two were dating."

Portman chuckled, "Well, she's at Loyola too, with Connie. They're both in the Nursing program. As for us dating, well, not yet. But I did tell her just yesterday that she's the only person I want to be with."

"Oh, really? You heard it here folks! Dean Portman and Julie the Cat Gaffney!" the host said and then paused, "Does she like you back?"

Again, Portman laughed, "Call her and ask."

Julie gasped, looking over at the phone as it rang. Picking it up, she timidly said, "Hello?" She heard the host's voice saying "Is this Julie the Cat?" She swallowed hard and said, "Yes, this is her."

"So, Dean here tells me that he likes you and that you're the only lady for him," the host continued, "And how do you feel?"

Smiling goofily and nervously, she said, "The same."

The host laughed, "So he's the only lady for you?"

Portman snickered and said, "Sorry Julie!"

Amazingly, no one outside of Julie and the Chicago area Blackhawks fans were listening, and Julie and Portman were not nearly as popular as Britney Spears and her worthless husband. None of the Ducks had said anything about the radio show, and Julie had only told Connie about the incident, playing it down a bit. She knew that people would find out eventually, but she still wasn't sure she wanted to be Portman's girlfriend. It was one thing to crush on a person who was 1000 miles away, but it was another thing to be committed to that person

_DP9521: Julie, I'm not saying it's going to be easy. We're 1100 miles apart. Of course it's going to be hard. We'll be lucky to see each other every other month._

_MaineSqueeze: Then why would you want to be tied to me!_

_DP9521: Because I can't imagine being without you._

_MaineSqueeze: You don't even know me that well_

_DP9521: How can you say that? I know all kinds of things about you._

_MaineSqueeze: You know facts about me. You don't know my emotions, how I liked to be kissed, how I like to … you know. _

_DP9521: But Julie, I want to learn. I want to love you, to be with you. I've never felt this way about anyone before, and frankly, it scares me. Can't you just give me a chance to show you how it can be?_

_MaineSqueeze: You're going to MN in two weeks for Bombay's game, right?_

_DP9521: Wouldn't miss it._

_MaineSqueeze: Okay, we'll see what happens then._

Two weeks later…

Portman leaned against the column that said "Gate 4" at the St. Paul airport. Charlie was stealing glances at Connie out of the corner of his eyes as she looked up at the television screen that was displaying the status of the airplanes. "Oh, it's at disembarking status now!" she said, excitedly. She hadn't seen her roommate in over two months, and she couldn't wait to catch up with her in person. IM just wasn't the same. Portman put his hands in his jean pockets in an attempt to conceal his clammy, shaking hands. His stomach was in knots and his mouth was dry. Was it possible that he was already madly in love with Julie?

A set of screams brought him out of his revere, and his body ached in jealousy as he saw Julie running to greet Connie, her arms outstretched. She dropped her backpack on the ground with a thud and hugged both Connie and Charlie, who was probably thrilled to have a chance to put his arm around Connie's waist. Portman waited patiently as they danced around, Connie and Julie squealing; he couldn't help but smile as she talked animatedly with Connie, picking up her backpack. She caught Portman's eye and her smile widened as her words faltered a bit.

"What does your suitcase look like? Let me get it for you," Charlie asked, noticing that the luggage carousel had come to life.

"Oh, I see it," Connie exclaimed, leaving with Charlie.

Portman remained leaning against the column, trying to force his stomach to unknot itself. "Well, aren't you going to come over here and give me a hug?" Julie joked, her hand on her hip.

"I thought you'd never ask, Cat-lady," Portman replied, willing his hands to stop trembling. Sure that no one was watching, he held her a little longer and a little closer than was necessary, but he didn't feel her pull away. He could smell a mixture of her perfume and shampoo as the hug continued. His heart hurt a little as he finally let go of her, seeing Charlie and Connie turn back toward them. Julie reluctantly let go also, not really believing that she had been so close to him. She had smelled his Nautica cologne on his shirt while her face had been buried in it. Her cheeks flushed as Connie and Charlie returned with her red suitcase.

They led Julie to the parking garage where Connie's mom's Mustang sat. Charlie lifted the heavy suitcase into the trunk and they all piled into the car, girls in the front, guys in the back.

To be continued…


	7. Believe Me

This piece is another transition chapter that should help explain what is going on with Connie and Charlie, since they are not the main characters but I do want to include them. I'm a little happier with this chapter than the last.

**Chapter 5: Believe Me**

Julie had asked Connie to stay with her that night in the hotel so they could catch up on the past 2 months. Julie was eager to see how things were going between Charlie and Connie. Connie plopped her bag on the floor after the girls had said goodbye to Portman and Charlie, who were headed off to the makeshift rink where they had spent so many days playing roller hockey. The girls had wanted to spend some time together, so they had decided to skip the game and hang out at the hotel instead, pampering themselves with spa items.

"Okay, Connie," Julie began, slipping off her shoes and socks to paint her toenails with a light shade of lavender, "You're first. Spill it all about Charlie… what's going on with you two?"

Connie's face was a little red as she pulled out her own blue toenail polish and a bottle of mud mask. As she pulled off her shoes, she began, "Well, nothing really happened these entire past few months until last night. Adam and I kind of had that fling going, like I told you about, and although he's a really good kisser, he's not really boyfriend material. He likes his space and he likes to date around. It got annoying after the second or third week of it, so I told him that I was seeing someone else. I really wasn't, but he didn't have to know that. Besides, my heart wasn't really in it anyways. I just needed a rebound thing I think. We agreed that there were no hard feelings… it just didn't work out. And we also agreed not to advertise the fact that we dated."

Julie offered her a chocolate from the box of candy that she had purchased in the Bangor airport, knowing that a "girls only" night always had to involve chocolate. Connie took a caramel and continued, "The whole time, Charlie and I had been hanging out in the evenings because he took one of his math classes at University of Minnesota so that he wouldn't have to take it back at Loyola. So, he's horrible at math, and I'm not, so I'd been helping him with his homework. The class ended a few weeks ago, but it was just a habit for us to hang out every night, so we just kept meeting up at Mickey's, or the mall, or his house. His mom is really awesome."

"So what happened last night?" Julie prodded, finishing her left foot and going on to the right.

"Well, I'm not really sure exactly how it happened. We went skating at the rink in the mall since I hadn't been on the ice since about Christmas. Before I knew it, we were holding hands on the ice. The lights were twinkly and he had this hooded sweatshirt on that was totally hot. I have no idea why, it just was," Connie laughed, reaching for another piece of chocolate, "and I don't know if he did it or if I did it, but pretty soon, we were standing in the middle of all these skaters, our arms around each other, and we were kissing. And then when we stopped, he just kind of held on to me for a few seconds. People were staring, but I didn't really care."

Julie laughed excitedly and reached over to hug Connie. "That's so awesome! Finally!" Julie said, popping a piece of chocolate in her mouth, "So what now?"

Connie smiled, capping the toenail polish, "Well, we didn't really say anything about being boyfriend and girlfriend or anything, but I'm hoping things carry on this week while you all are here. And it's good that we go to the same school, so there's no reason for us not to get together." Julie nodded, somewhat sadly, at Connie's last comment, and capped her own toenail polish.

"Okay, what's next, mud mask or hair mask?" Julie asked, holding up the two bottles.

"Hair mask," Connie said, flicking on the light in the bathroom, "And your story on Portman."

Julie smiled almost sadly before saying, "Well, there isn't a whole lot to tell."

Connie looked over at her with a frown. "You're not the only one who talks to him on a regular basis, you know," she said, setting the bottle of protein mask on the sink and turning on the water.

"You talk to him too?" Julie asked, trying not to act surprised.

"Yes, I do. And he told me all about the conversation you had a couple weeks ago, the one about how you guys had liked each other forever but you were afraid to go out with him because you lived too far away and it would be too hard and blah blah blah more excuses," Connie said, beginning what Julie knew would be a Goldberg-sized rant.

Julie frowned, squeezing a huge glob of the greenish protein hair mask in her hand, "Connie… I'm afraid I'll fall in love with him and I'll turn into some sad little girl, waiting by the phone for her boyfriend to call, and he never does."

Connie smiled, taking the bottle and squeezing out another blob, "That's the risk you take when you date someone. To have the wonderful feelings of love and all that yack, you have to experience some bad feelings like fear, jealousy, and general unease. But in the end, when things work out and we graduate and you move to the same city, you won't take the little things like doing laundry together for granted."

Julie chuckled, starting to spread the gooey mess into her long blonde hair, "That's assuming we fall in love."

Connie shook her head, "Well, aren't you already? I think you are, you just can't stand to think that someone else has an impact on your happiness. I know you Jules… you like to be the one who is in total control."

They silently spread the goop throughout the length of their hair and wrapped the mess up in towels. Julie plopped down on the bed to eat more candy while Connie tweezed her eyebrows at the bathroom vanity. "You know," Julie said, breaking the silence, "I've never really been in love before. There were people I thought I was in love with, and Scooter was probably the closest, but this thing with Portman feels different. Like somehow, deep down, I know it's going to work out. And it scares me. Because for some reason, I know that we're going to get married and he's going to be the last person I date. Is that crazy?"

Connie looked over at her best friend with a smile, "No, it's wonderful."

Julie sighed, shoving more candy in her mouth, "I think so too."

After all the beauty treatments were over, their outfits for the next day were selected, and the candy was devoured, Connie and Julie laid on their beds in silence, reflecting on the summer. "I just can't believe that we're going to be 21 this fall… and that clinicals begin in school soon…" Connie began, looking up at the ceiling.

"And that I'm in love with Dean Portman," Julie added, giggling slightly before sighing nervously.

"It's going to be okay Jules… we're going to be okay," Connie said softly, "And if it doesn't work out, life goes on. Believe me."

To be continued…


	8. 45 Minutes Late

This chapter may be edited in the future also, but it's okay the way it is right now. Again, how they get together isn't exactly the biggest part of the story. It's the end of the story that will be the best.

**Chapter 6: 45 Minutes Late**

She was a ball of emotions. Her heart was pounding and she was wringing her hands as she waited for Portman to knock on her door. Connie had left to meet up with Charlie and Michele McKay to work on planning Gordon's surprise party for Friday, the night of his first game coaching in the NHL. So Julie was left alone in her hotel room to wait for Portman to pick her up for the group dinner at Mickey's. What should she say? How should she act? She smoothed out her kelly green khakis and the cute striped shirt she had borrowed from Connie before looking in the mirror to examine her hair. She had spent quite a while curling the ends of her long blonde hair. She tried to smile in the mirror, but her face felt frozen and tight. She was nervous beyond belief.

Portman's hands shook as he quietly shut the door to his hotel room, slowly making his way down the hall to the elevator. Julie's room was on the second floor this time, which allowed him more time to calm down before seeing her. He took deep breaths as he awaited the arrival of the elevator. Julie would look amazing, he knew, because she always did. She could be wearing a grocery sack, and she would look amazing. He looked down at his own clothes again, hoping that the t-shirt and jeans he was wearing weren't too casual. He knew all the other guys would be wearing the same, but those guys weren't trying to land the most beautiful girl in all of Minnesota.

The knock on the door was like an electric shock to Julie, who jumped straight up in the air. Her heart pounded loudly in her ears as she made her way to the door, unlocking the dead bolt and slowly pulling it open. In front of her stood the most handsome man in Minnesota, Dean Portman. He grinned at her nervously, his hands in his pockets. "Hi," she said softly. "Hey, Jules," he said, stepping inside. She shut the door and he turned around to look at her again. Her hair was curled and pulled back half way. He felt like he was going to puke. "Julie, you look…" he managed to say, but her lips on his stopped him.

He was kissing Julie Gaffney. Correction, Julie Gaffney was kissing him! The initial shock wore off, and he began kissing her right back, his arms around her and holding her close. Julie was trying not to be mortified by the fact that she had just jumped on him before he'd had the chance to say more than 5 words to her, but really, she didn't care. She had been thinking about him all night and all morning, and she was ashamed of herself for even thinking about not giving this relationship a chance. She was planning on telling him later in the night, after dinner, but her nerves had gotten the best of her, causing her to accelerate the process.

The kiss ended reluctantly, and she could feel Portman's smile on her cheek as she remained in his arms, trying to compose herself. "Well, good afternoon to you too," he chuckled, causing her to laugh also. The laughing continued, as both she and Portman released the nervous energy with which they had both been overflowing.

"Sorry about that… I just couldn't help myself," she said, giggling and covering her mouth.

"Any time you want to greet me that way, you go right on ahead. I'm not going to stop you," he said, pulling her back into his arms for a hug.

They were silent for a few seconds before Julie said, "Well, I was going to wait to talk to you about this until tonight, but I guess now is as good of a time as any."

She led him to the bed, where they both took a seat. "Okay," she began, steeling herself with a deep breath, "After much thought and conversations with Connie, I've decided that I to give us a try."

He wasn't sure he'd really heard her, but she smiled at him expectantly, so a smile spread across his face. "I promise, you won't regret this," he said, pulling her closer for another kiss.

"I know I won't," she whispered, her lips almost touching his.

They were 45 minutes late to dinner, but they didn't really care. Connie pointed at them from inside Mickey's as they made their way across the street and into the diner. "What do we tell them?" Julie whispered, walking up the steps.

Portman held the door open for her and whispered, "Eh, let them figure it out on their own. If they can." She smiled up at him as they made their way to the booths that the Ducks were sharing.

"About damn time you guys got here!" Goldberg said, throwing a wadded up napkin at them. Most of the team had eaten already with the exception of Goldberg and Fulton, who were still eating.

Julie realized that she was starving and grabbed a menu as Portman said, "Sorry… we got lost." Julie winked at Connie, who looked at her from across two tables.

Charlie's arm was on the back of the bench that they were sharing, and Connie excused herself for a second. "I gotta go to the ladies', wanna go, Jules?" Connie said, trying to make their disappearance appear legitimate.

"Sure, I'll be right back. Portman, order me a number 3 special, will ya?" Julie said, throwing her purse into the booth.

Seconds later, the boys heard excited screams coming from the ladies' restroom, and Portman's face turned slightly red. Fulton punched him on the shoulder and whispered, "Tonight, you're coming over and you're going to tell me everything."

The girls made their way back to the table, noticing the amused stares of all of the guys. "What?" Connie said, sliding back into the booth with Charlie. Portman stood up so Julie could slide into the booth just as the waitress brought Julie's food.

* * *

This reunion consisted of the same types of activities as the last: barbeques at Fulton's, pool parties at Adam's, dinners at Mickey's, roller hockey, basketball, etc. School was often a topic of discussion due to the fact that the beginning of their junior year was fast approaching. Connie and Julie were excited to finally be doing something closely related to nursing, but moaned about the fact that they would have to be in school solid for the next 18 months or so. This was their last real summer due to the clinical rotations that they would be taking. The days flew by as Julie and Portman spent every waking hour with each other.

On Friday, the Ducks piled into a couple minivans that they had borrowed from their parents and set off to Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul for the preseason game. Coach Bombay was now the head coach of the Minnesota Wild after several years heading up the youth hockey program for the Jr. Goodwill games. Gordon Bombay was a household name in hockey houses, so the Wild were thrilled to get The Minnesota Miracle Man when he expressed interest in filling their open coaching spot. The Wild would be playing the Stars in their first preseason game, and most of the Ducks were torn about their team loyalties. The Wild was now Gordon's team, but the Stars had been big Ducks supporters for years. Julie compromised by wearing a Wild shirt and a Stars hat that she borrowed from Charlie.

The game was close throughout all three periods and ended in a defeat for the Wild. Bombay seemed happy about his team's effort and congratulated them all on a great game as they left the bench. The Ducks all looked at each other. It was time for the surprise party.

All of the Wild players had been in on the party, which was spearheaded by Michele McKay, Bombay's long time girlfriend. After the game, they would all claim to be headed out to celebrate while Michele made an excuse to get Gordon back to the house. A few special people had been invited also including Jan, Don Tibbles, and Coach Orion. Pulling up to the Coach's moderately large house in a nice section of St. Paul, they turned off the lights on the van and parked in an area hidden by trees. The lights were on in Bombay's house and they could see him checking his watch. Ms. McKay was stalling until they arrived. The remaining Ducks arrived along with several of the Wild players and their girlfriends. The plan was to sneak in the unlocked back door and infiltrate the house, scaring the crap out of Bombay by jumping out of every door at Ms. McKay's signal. Portman and Fulton had brought their air horns from the game and were giving each other silent high fives as they and Julie hid in the downstairs pantry. They heard Ms. McKay come down the stairs and say, "Okay Gordon, are you ready to leave?"

Fulton and Portman looked at each other; that was the signal. "SURPRISE!" they all screamed, air horns honking loudly. Gordon screamed in surprise also, covering his head with his arms. Everyone laughed loudly as Bombay brought down his arms to check out the crowd. He looked over at Michele, who was smiling proudly; it was nearly impossible to trick Gordon after all of his years with the Ducks.

"You got me!" he said, laughing. He paused for a second and looked around at the crowd, his hand in his blazer pocket. "But," he began, looking back to Michele, "I got you at the same time." The large crowd gasped as he pulled a Tiffany box out of his pocket and dropped down on one knee slowly, his knees never having been the same after his injury.

"Michele, will you marry me?" he said to the now red-faced woman standing in front of him.

"Of course I will!" she said, tears falling down her face. Julie and Connie squealed again, crying happily at the romantic moment. Fulton, Portman, Charlie, and the rest of the guys rolled their eyes and laughed, but Portman squeezed Julie's hand to let her know he was just kidding.

The party went on until the late hours of the night, full of good food, drinks, happy friends, and conversation. Gordon did notice that Portman and Julie were sticking together very closely, and he pulled Portman to the side while they were refilling their drinks in the kitchen. "So, you and Julie, huh?" the coach said, smiling.

Portman smiled and said, "Yeah, what can I say?" Gordon laughed, patting Portman on the shoulder.

"You'll be good to her, I know you will. And if you're not, I know Connie will beat the crap out of you, so I'm not too concerned," Gordon laughed as Portman nodded.

"Did you hear… Connie and Charlie?" Portman asked as they returned to the party.

"I can't believe it took _this_ long," Bombay said, rolling his eyes.

Portman nodded and said, "Yeah, it's about damn time."

To be continued…


	9. In the Garden

For all of you dedicated reviewers, here is a fluff chapter, just for you! ;) Sorry it took me so long for this one. You know how life is. I hope it's alright… it took me a super long time to write because I didn't want it to be cheesy or to suck.

**Chapter 7: In the Garden**

He knew their time together was growing shorter by the hour. Julie's flight was scheduled to depart at 9:45pm on Saturday night, and it was already after 10pm on Friday. He glanced over at her as she laughed at one of Averman's jokes, her blonde hair shining in the bright lights of the game room at Bombay's house. It had been almost impossible to get some quality alone time with her since Connie and Charlie were often around, and as usual, Julie was preoccupied with Connie's life. Portman didn't care that Julie often worried about Connie; he just wanted some time alone with his new girlfriend.

"Hey Jules," he called from the doorway, pretending to be offering her a drink. She excused herself from the conversation and walked over to him, rolling her eyes in reference to Averman.

"I thought I was never going to get away. Thanks," she said, smiling and following him into the kitchen.

"I was thinking we could go outside for a while. I've never seen Bombay's backyard," he said, feeling lame after he'd said it.

Julie feigned ignorance at why he would want to go outside and answered, "Sure."

They were starting to get over the awkwardness that came when they hugged or held hands, but both of them still felt the butterflies that had taken up permanent residence. Julie got the usual swooping feeling in her stomach as she squeezed by Portman, who was holding the patio door open for her. They slowly walked past the large in ground pool and ventured up the path to the garden at the far corner of the very large backyard. They could hear music from inside and Julie swore she heard Averman telling someone the same joke he had just told her. She shook her head and smiled, looking up at Portman. "They're still all crazy," she laughed, nudging him a little.

"Am I still crazy?" he asked, nudging her back a little harder to knock her off balance slightly. She recovered quickly and hurried back to playfully whack him on the arm, taking off running the rest of the way up the garden path. She flopped down onto a bench swing that overlooked the garden and grinned at Portman as he walked the rest of the path.

He joined her on the bench, putting his arm around her shoulders with a smile. "Do I think you're still crazy?" Julie continued, "Of course I do." They both laughed a little, hugging each other and releasing some of the slight nervousness between them.

They sat silently for at least ten minutes, watching the crowd inside the house as they leaned on each other. Out of the corner of her eye, Julie noticed movement in the kitchen. She glanced back over at the kitchen to see Connie and Charlie sneaking a kiss in the kitchen, thinking no one was watching. Julie silently nudged Portman, nodding her head in the direction of the kitchen. "I guess they think no one is watching," he said.

"Do you think anyone is watching us?" Julie asked, looking up at Portman.

"Do I care?" Portman asked, leaning closer to her.

"I don't," she replied, as he closed the distance between them. The wooshing sound filled her ears again as she closed her eyes and slipped her arms around his neck, leaning into his kiss.

In the kitchen, Connie looked out at the backyard. The garden swing was slightly illuminated by the citronella torches that lined the path. "Hey, look," she said to Charlie, who was pouring her a glass of Coke.

"Hmm, I guess they think no one is watching," Charlie said, handing her the cup.

"Yeah, but I doubt they care," Connie said, smiling at him as they walked back out into the game room.

As the minutes passed them by, Julie and Portman sat silently on the swing, his arm around her and her head on his shoulder. They sat in contented silence, the swing creaking as they slowly swung back and forth. The crowd inside the house was getting rowdier, apparently feeling the martinis that Michele was making at the bar. "You want to go back in?" Julie whispered, not moving her head.

"No, do you?" Portman asked, looking down at her.

She shook her head and looked up at him somewhat sadly. "I'm not going to miss _them_ when I leave tomorrow night," she said softly. He smiled back at her sadly, kissing her forehead and pulling her a little closer.

"Do you want to get out of here?" he asked a few minutes later, pulling his cell phone out of his pocket.

She didn't respond verbally, but pulled out her own phone. They both brought their phones up to their ears. "Con, I'm going back to the hotel… see you in the morning," she said, seeing her friend answer her phone. Connie looked out the window into the back yard and smiled, hanging up her phone without a word.

"Hey, the lady and I are out of here. See you in the AM, dude," Portman said, nodding through the window at Fulton, who was playing pool with Guy, Goldberg, and Banks.

They silently walked a block and a half down the street to where Portman has hidden his Camaro earlier that day. A few of the other Ducks had parked their cars near Portman's so that they could leave the party separately after traveling to the game in a large group. By now, it was 11:30pm and the neighborhoods were asleep. "This place is so different from Chicago," she said softly, as they sat at a stoplight, "Chicago never sleeps…"

Portman glanced over at her and squeezed her hand briefly before returning his hand to the shifter to take off from the light. "If we can manage to be in Chicago at the same time, I'll take you to some great places. I really miss that place…" his voice drifted off.

She watched him out of the corner of her eye as he leaned his elbow against the door to support his head. "And it makes it worse knowing that you're there… in my city, on those streets I know so well. I can just see you at Gino's, or Millennium Park… It makes me not want to go back to A&M this year," he said softly as he frowned in thought.

"Well, why did you go?" she asked, something she'd been dying to ask since she found out during their senior year of high school that he and Fulton were going to Texas.

He shrugged, shifting into 4th gear. "It seemed like a good idea at the time. They had a good management school and I was finally going to do something that my parents wanted me to do for once. My dad went to A&M and that's where he met my mom. They were in brother-sister greek houses. It was so "fairy tale," as my mom likes to say," he said, rolling his eyes in disdain.

"But you're not your dad," Julie said, knowing this was a seriously sensitive subject for him.

"I know… but I don't want them to think I'm a failure," he said somewhat sadly. "But they will really like you," he said, his hand squeezing hers again, "Mom thinks nursing is a noble and thankless profession."

"Did you tell them about me or something?" Julie asked.

He chuckled and said, "Yeah, she overheard my brother and I talking, so then I got the third degree. They already knew who you were anyway from the Ducks."

They pulled into the Marriott parking lot and made their way up to Julie's room. "We can watch a movie," Julie said, leaning against him in the elevator.

"You can watch it and I can watch you. I want to memorize you before you leave," he said, smiling sadly.

"This is going to be so hard, you know that?" she said, her face buried in his chest.

"I know… but I don't care," he said softly, leading her out of the elevator and down the hall.

Julie was yawning before she could even pull her shoes off, and she crawled under the covers in her bed as Portman searched for the remote. "Hey!" he laughed, pulling off his own shoes and flopping down on the bed to bounce her.

"Sorry… I'm really sleepy," she yawned, pulling back the covers so he could join her in the bed. He flipped to a channel that was showing "I, Robot" and then tossed the remote onto the other bed.

He found himself fighting sleep as he watched Julie, who wasn't even pretending to watch the movie. Her eyes kept fluttering shut as she fell asleep and woke herself back up again and again. He scooted close enough to her to feel her breath as she slept, and he closed his own eyes for a few minutes, enjoying the fact that he was in bed with her. In his drowsiness, he thought he heard her breathing pattern change, and then he felt a finger tracing his cheek. "Are you asleep?" she whispered, her finger continuing to trace his cheek.

"Not really," he whispered in reply, still keeping his eyes closed for a second longer before opening them. She was sitting up slightly, leaning on her elbow and looking down at him. "How long have you been awake? You were out of it a few minutes ago," he asked, rolling over on his back to look at her.

"Not long," she replied, sliding down to lay her head back on the pillow. "You should turn off that light," she said, nodding to the lamp behind him. He looked at her somewhat strangely but rolled over to turn off the light. The bathroom light and the TV provided a small amount of light, but the room was basically dark. He could see her bright eyes staring into his as they silently lay on the bed.

"What are you thinking about?" she whispered, leaning forward to touch her forehead to his.

"Everything," he whispered in reply, not able to resist touching her face. Her cheek was incredibly soft, and she sighed as he rubbed it with his thumb.

"When am I going to see you again?" she asked, tears appearing in her eyes.

"As soon as possible. Fall break? Sooner?" he said, seeing the tears that were forming, "Don't worry, Julie. The time will fly. You'll be busy with school and we'll talk every night on the phone… it's going to be okay."

"I know it will be… it's just going to be hard. I'm going to miss you so much," she said, her throat getting tight as she tried not to cry.

"I'm going to be thinking about you non stop," he said, smiling at her and wiping away the one tear that made its way down her cheek.

"Sorry," she whispered, wiping her eyes.

"It's alright. If you want to cry, you can. I don't mind," he said soothingly, pulling her closer to kiss her cheek. She smiled as more tears leaked out of her eyes. Most people told her not to cry… she'd spent years playing sports with boys who would make fun of her if she'd cry. And now, one of the guys she'd thought would make fun of her the most was now telling her that it was alright to cry. So she did.

He'd never seen her cry from sadness. Not once. She and Connie cried from happiness frequently, but he had never seen The Cat Lady so upset that she was crying. It was strange for him. Yet, it made him want to cry himself; he didn't, mind you, but the thought was there.

Her tears stopped as quickly as they had started, and now they were left staring at each other, wondering what the other was thinking. "Will you stay here tonight?" she blurted out.

"Do you think that's a good idea?" he asked. He wasn't sure how much control he would be able have if they started making out.

"Afraid you won't be able to control yourself?" she whispered with a smile.

He frowned at her and said, "Ha. Ha. You're so funny."

"So will you stay or not?" she asked again, slipping out of bed to grab her pajamas.

"I'll stay. But you have to behave," he said, sitting up to pull off his shirt.

"Me? I'm not going to misbehave," she said, starting to unbutton her pants. "Oh, better close your eyes," she smirked, unzipping them.

Before climbing back into bed, Julie turned off the TV and the bathroom light. The room was now pitch black.

He could sense her location, and he reached out to stroke her hair as she looked at him. She couldn't believe she had asked him to stay, but now here he was, in her bed. With his shirt off. They didn't have to say it… they both knew that tonight wasn't going to be "the night," but they were still both nervous as hell. She hadn't ever spent the whole night with someone, and he'd never spent the night with someone like her. Someone he loved.

She relaxed enough to be able to snuggle up to him and he put his arms around her waist and kissed her forehead. He didn't want to rush anything, especially since he really just wanted to ravage her right then and there. But then she kissed him, breaking the tension and allowing him to kiss her as much as he wanted.

"Julie… I want to tell you something…" he began, whispering in her ear after pulling her body to his, "I keep getting this feeling… You're going to think I'm crazy. But I'm in love with you. Already." She kissed him again, this time softly and slowly.

"That's exactly what I said to Connie on Monday," she said, her hands in is hair as he kissed her neck.

"How could you not be?" he whispered in her ear again, chuckling as she pretended to bite his arm.

"It was inevitable," she smiled, and they both knew that she wasn't joking.

To be continued…


	10. Gummi Worms

Sorry the update has taken so long. School/work has been crazy, and the holiday didn't help.

**Chapter 8: Gummi Worms**

Julie pulled the covers around herself as the August storm pounded their top floor apartment with rain and hail. She turned up the volume on the Walkman, playing the CD that Portman had made for her just before leaving to head back to school in Texas. As she listened to "Waiting" by Trapt, her thoughts drifted back to earlier that evening, when they had been together last…

_I wanna meet up with you  
And show you what I'm thinking  
I'll take you anywhere  
That you wanna go  
I'm sitting here bored and lonely and  
You know that anytime you're free  
To show me how you feel  
We'll take it anywhere that you want to go  
Anywhere that you wanna go _

* * *

Their last night together began with dinner at the Portman house. It was only Julie's second time to visit, and she couldn't get over the fact that Portman's parents were the rich, high society types. She had figured his family hadn't been poor since Dean had gone to Morgan Park in middle school, but she never would have guessed that his family actually had a significant amount of money and social clout. Several things had become apparent to her as she studied the interaction between father and son. Observation 1: Dean's tough guy act was, in general, a rebellion against his father, who was very civilized. Julie was sure that he and Dean had experienced many arguments about "The Grunge Period," as she now referred to it. Dean's mother was beautiful, intelligent, and very critical. Julie pitied Dean's 14 year old sister, who was slightly overweight and awkward, and was sure to be a victim of Victoria Portman's critical eye. Dean's older brother, on the other hand, was a sexier version of Dean. Julie had to force herself to look away from Chad, who did not have Dean's beautiful eyes, but made up for that in his dark and brooding facial expressions, which were the source of the sexiness.

Julie had managed to make it through another dinner without embarrassing herself, and she and Dean chatted with Chad for a few minutes before leaving to go back to Julie's apartment. "Sorry you had to see the old hag again. Living here in Chicago means that she may draft you into one of her fruity woman groups," Chad said, checking his hair in the hall mirror. Dean was sitting on the front staircase, tying his shoes and shaking his head.

"Nah, she knows Julie is too busy. Besides, mom remembers where Julie and I met… hockey practice," Dean laughed.

As the couple headed into the garage to leave in Dean's Camaro, Julie noticed the three BMWs parked in the garage. Observation 2: Julie was sure that Dean's rejection of the finer things in life had increased the career pressure that his dad had placed on him. Again, she was glad that her family had supported all of her decisions. Seeming to know what she was thinking, Dean said quietly, "I'm sure your parents are a lot different than mine. You're not screwed up like Chad, Carrie, and me. Maybe I can meet them sometime soon."

Julie smiled as Dean held open the car door as she climbed inside. "Be prepared for a house full of blondes," she laughed, trying to lighten the mood.

Dean was uncharacteristically silent as they headed onto the expressway and back to her apartment in a different area of Chicago. Julie caught a glimpse of one of Dean's dark and brooding expressions and revised her earlier assessment that Chad was the sexiest of the bunch. "What are you thinking about?" Julie whispered, reaching over to place her hand on his shoulder.

"Everything," he sighed.

"Tell me," she said softly, her hand traveling up to the back of his neck.

He sighed again, glancing over at her briefly before looking back at the traffic. They were silent for a few moments as the air conditioner whirred, clearing out the hot Midwestern August heat. "Sometimes, I wonder if I'm going to become my parents. I'm already becoming my dad… A&M… management school…" he lamented, leaning his elbow against the door.

"But you didn't pledge… that's something different," Julie said, turning slightly in her seat to face him. She knew where this conversation was going; they had repeated it many times before on IM and on the phone.

"I don't really want to talk about it again… I just want to think about you. It's my last night with you for a while, and I want to enjoy it and not think about my problems," he said, smiling slightly.

Julie tucked the conversation into her back pocket as usual, and allowed the subject to transition to which movie they would be pretending to watch at her apartment.

"Can you believe that it's been three weeks since we got together?" Dean said after a comfortable pause. He exited the expressway onto the city street that lead to Julie and Connie's apartment.

Julie shook her head with a smile. "It's hard not being able to see you whenever I want, but I think I'll learn to deal with it. Besides… it's not for forever." Her voice had a slightly questioning tone has she glanced over at Dean.

"Nope, it's not going to be for forever. One of these days one of us is going to graduate college, but I have a feeling that you're going to be first," Dean said somewhat cryptically. Julie opened her mouth to respond, but Dean whipped into the small parking lot beside her apartment and turned off the car. "Shall we?" he said, leaning over to peck her on the cheek.

Connie had taken Charlie shopping with her that morning, and the two were at Charlie's new apartment about 5 blocks away. Julie had told Connie that it would be okay if they wanted to stay at the girls' apartment, but Connie had insisted, saying that she owed her after "The Drunken Incident" at the beginning of the summer. The girls hadn't managed to unpack completely; Julie had convinced her parents to let her head back to Chicago a week early to move her belongings into her new apartment, but the girls had been so busy with Charlie and Dean that they really hadn't put away much more than the necessities. "Maybe once I go back to A&M, you'll be able to clean your apartment, that is, unless you are too overcome with sadness to function," Dean said as Julie flipped on the light to reveal the moving boxes piled around the living room.

Julie laughed and gave him a friendly shove, which was a cover that she used when feeling especially attracted to him. She diffused the situation with a shove or a tickle before things got too serious. It's not that she wasn't serious about Dean; she just didn't know how to handle the serious feelings that she was having.

Dean, on the other hand, was ready to marry Julie immediately and have 15 kids, but he didn't dare tell anyone. Instead, he had to be content with the IM conversations and the phone conversations, and the occasional visits.

"Okay, so we're pretending to watch re-runs of Law and Order: SVU?" Dean said as he flipped on the TV in her bedroom, tossing the remote into a chair.

"Fine by me," Julie said, kicking off her sandals and sitting down on her unmade bed. Dean tossed her a pillow and they both snuggled up together to silently enjoy their last night together. There would be time for talking later.

* * *

Connie sighed inwardly and tried not to roll her eyes as Charlie loaded another action movie into the DVD player. "This is a great one, you'll like it," he said, hurrying back over to the couch and putting his arm around her.

They had been watching action movies since 4 pm, and it was really starting to get old. Connie thought about Julie, who was probably making out withPortman in their apartment. Who knewPortman was such a romantic? It was almost as if theguy thatshe had known in middle school and high school was a totally different person than the 20 something Dean Portman that was now in love with her best friend. Connie couldn't help but be jealous of Julie, who was undoubtedly having a very romantic night. She, on the other hand, was watching Face Off 2 with Charlie, who hadn't made a move on her the entire night. He hadn't even kissed her. It wasn't as if Connie didn't like Charlie; she had expected him to be more romantic and sweet and less of a regular guy. She thought back to her relationship with Guy and remembered the passion that they used to have. Granted, a lot of that passion came from the fights that they used to have, but there was always the make up sex. With Charlie, there was no fighting, but there was also no passion. The first week or so had been cute and sweet, but Charlie was still so into hockey that Connie wasn't sure she could compete with his love for the game.

Connie dozed off and was startled when her phone rang. Checking the caller ID, she saw that it was Julie. "Hey Jules," she answered, glad to hear from her friend.

"Cons, will you come home? I'm really lonely. Dean just left to go home so he could get to the airport really early in the morning. I need to have a cry session with you," Julie said, her voice tight from holding back the tears.

"I'll be right there, hon…" Connie said, closing her flip phone and getting up. Charlie looked at her quizzically and she said, "Portman left to head back to Texas and Connie is upset. I've gotta go be with her. I'll see you sometime tomorrow, okay?"

Charlie stood up and helped Connie up off of the couch. "Okay, give me a call whenever," he said, giving her a peck on the cheek and a quick hug.

"Um, okay… talk to you later," she said, a little confused as he sat back down on the couch and turned his attention to the movie. She paused for another second or two before turning on her heel and quickly leaving the apartment. She would definitely have something to cry about with Julie tonight.

Connie made it back to their apartment in about 10 minutes after stopping at the gas station to pick up Julie's favorite candy, Gummi Worms. "Jules, you here?" she yelled into the darkened apartment, walking toward Julie's room.

"I'm in my room," Julie yelled, sniffing loudly and blowing her nose into a tissue. Connie opened the door and smiled slightly at her friend, who was in her pajamas and had the covers around her shoulders. "Are those Gummi Worms?"Julie whined hopefully. Connie smiled and tossed her the bag.

"Let me go put my pajamas on, and then we can have a good cry together. I've got my own things to cry about tonight," Connie said, walking out of the bedroom to her own room across the hall.

"How was your night with Charlie?" Julie asked, turning off the TV so that she would be able to hear Connie talk.

"Oh, it was alright until we started watching movies at his apartment. By the time you called, I was ready to strangle him. Does that boy not have any sexual desires?" Connie yelled from her closet, pulling on a pair of shorts.

Julie laughed from the other room, stuffing another worm in her mouth. "Didn't you show him your boobs? That usually wakes a guy up," she laughed.

"I stuck them right in his face accidentally on purpose, granted, I did have my shirt on. I bet you don't have to show your boobs to Portman to get him to kiss you," Connie said, walking out of her room and flipping off the light. She flung her pillow onto Julie's bed and flopped down, helping herself to one of the worms.

"Well, you go first. I don't have anything interesting to tell, I just have to lament about Dean being gone. Sounds like you have something to get off your chest," Julie said, looking over at her friend.

"Please don't tell anyone this… well, I doubt Portman would tell anyone, but don't tell anyone else... Charlie hasn't kissed me on the lips in about a week… it's like he's all of the sudden not attracted to me any more. I even tried kissing him on the neck and sitting on his lap, but he just kept watching the movie and told me to pay attention because the good part was coming up soon," Connie said, violently tearing a worm in half as Julie chewed thoughtfully.

"I don't understand… did something happen? Did you have a fight?" Julie said.

"I wish we'd have a fight! It would be more interesting than this! I know that Guy and I hardly ever got along, but at least it was interesting. I'm not going to be able to stand this if--" Connie began, but was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"I bet that's him right now," Julie said, patting her friend on the shoulder.

"I bet it's Portman coming back to tell you that he can't live without you. You're so lucky…" Connie whined as they both got up and walked into the living room. Connie looked through the peep hole and immediately gasped.

"Who is it?" Julie whispered, running to the door.

"It's… It's Guy," Connie said, her hand over her mouth.

To be continued…

(Woohooo, a cliff hanger!)


	11. Unbelievable

I couldn't leave you all hanging… Sorry this is so short, but I wanted to resolve this Guy issue, and my next long chapter is going to take a bit of work. I know where the story is going, it's just that some of the transition chapters are hard to write. I have most of chapter 11 written already, but 10 is stumping me!

BTW, thanks for all of the reviews. I really appreciate them and try to use the suggestions that I'm given.

**Chapter 9: Unbelievable**

Dean was supposed to call as soon as he got back to his apartment in Texas. Julie frantically waited for her cell phone to ring. What was she going to do? Guy had been at their apartment the entire night, and it was now 5 am. Julie hadn't slept at all. Dean's plane departed at 3:30 am and was set to arrive in Texas by 4:45 am. Should she call Charlie, wake him up, and tell him to come over to stop what she feared was happening in Connie's bedroom? What was Guy doing in Chicago anyway?

Her cell phone rang and she hit the ceiling. "Dean!" she whispered, running to her closet to hide so that Connie wouldn't overhear her conversation.

"Hey, you! Are you okay?" Dean asked, sensing that something was up. He shut the door to his bedroom so that he wouldn't wake Fulton. Who was he kidding? Earthquakes couldn't wake Fulton.

"You'll never guess who showed up here tonight…" Julie said, pulling the closet door slightly closed to muffle her voice. She didn't give him a chance to guess before saying, "Guy! It was Guy! And he's still here!"

Dean was silent for a second before cursing. "Is Charlie online? Maybe you can IM him a bunch of times and wake him up and get him to come over. You can't just go burst in on her, but he can," Dean said, sitting down on his bed, feeling a bit light headed from the lack of sleep.

"Yeah, he's on. Maybe I can wake him up. He's only been idle for a few hours, so maybe he just fell asleep," Julie said, yawning.

"Well, if something else happens, call me. I've got to get to bed. I'm falling asleep," Dean said, yawning also.

"Okay. I'll give you a call later. Goodnight Dean," Julie said, pushing the closet door open.

"Goodnight, babe. I miss you already," he said drowsily.

Julie opened an instant messenger window to Charlie, Spazway99, and messaged him multiple times in an attempt to wake him. She was unsuccessful, however, and finally ended up leaving him a message.

_MaineSqueeze: Charlie, you have to get over here as soon as you see this message. Seriously. Something is going on, and it's best if you get here as soon as possible. I can't go into detail._

With that, she climbed into bed and snuggled up to the pillow that Dean had been laying on before leaving her apartment. It still smelled like his cologne.

* * *

Around 8 am, Julie was awoken by a loud thud in the living room and two male voices shouting. She jumped out of bed and pulled on her sweatshirt before running out of her room. The August storm continued to rage on outside, which explained why Charlie was standing in the living room in sopping wet clothes. "You bastard, what in the hell are you doing here?" Charlie yelled in Guy's face, pushing him back onto the couch, where Guy had obviously been sleeping. Connie was watching from her bedroom doorway in tears as Julie stood dumbfounded beside the TV. Thunder crashed loudly outside and the windows rattled, adding to the effect of Charlie's anger.

"I asked you a question!" Charlie yelled again, pulling Guy up by his shirt, "Why are you sleeping on my girlfriend's couch?"

"From what she told me, you're not much of a boyfriend to her. What kind of a man won't even kiss his girlfriend?" Guy spat nastily in return, pulling Charlie's hands off.

Charlie was taken aback for a second before hauling off and punching Guy right in the face. Connie screamed and ran to pull Charlie off of Guy. "Charlie, don't! Nothing happened, I swear! We just talked! I'm so sorry," Connie sobbed hysterically.

Charlie looked at Connie angrily for a second, releasing his hold on Guy. "That bastard never loved you like I do," he said, grabbing her roughly and kissing her on the lips, almost picking her up off of the ground. The kiss lasted several seconds before Charlie leaned back to look in her eyes. Without saying anything, he pulled her mouth back to his and kissed her passionately while Guy stood uncomfortably in the living room.

Their second kiss ended and Charlie turned away from Connie back to Guy. "I never want to see your face again," he said simply, grabbing Guy by the shirt again and opening the front door. Charlie pushed Guy out of the apartment and into the pouring rain, slamming the door. Again, without speaking, he walked over to Connie and picked her up, carrying her into her bedroom and shutting the door with a thud. Julie could hear a pair of shoes hit the floor before she ventured back into her own bedroom, trying not to laugh out loud.

Dean had signed on to IM, but had an away message posted. Julie left a message because she didn't want to call him to wake him up.

_MaineSqueeze: You'll never believe what just happened… Charlie showed up over here and kicked the shit out of Guy. Then, he carried Connie off into her bedroom and they're in there getting down! Unbelievable._

_Autoresponse_ _from DP9521: Just got in from Chi-Town. Missing my Julie already. I'll be sleeping for most of the day, so don't bother me unless you're Julie Gaffney._

To be continued…


	12. Corazon, Part 1

Okay, I decided to totally dump the original idea I had for this chapter because it was so weak and go directly to what would have been Chapter 11. This idea came to me one morning as I was driving to work. It may be a little confusing at first, but just keep reading. It will be good, I promise.

I decided to break this into two parts so that this chapter wouldn't be a mammoth. Be looking for Part 2 in the next two weeks or so.

**Chapter 10: Corazon, Part 1**

The day began like any other, but Julie had this eerie feeling that something was going to go terribly wrong today. A nervous feeling filled her stomach as she pulled on the teal Emergency Department scrubs and laced up her white nurses' shoes. Grabbing her bag that contained her books and her lunch, she set out on the short walk to the bus stop, passing Connie, who had just finished an evening rotation in the NICU. Connie looked tired, but was smiling, showing off a text message that Charlie had sent to her phone.

The bus dropped her off right in front of the Emergency Department doors at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. The October sun was shining brightly already, and a cool breeze blew through the parking lot as she walked through the double doors. The waiting room was empty, but she just couldn't shake the bad feeling that she had.

* * *

Chewing his seventh Rolaid, Richard Portman steered his BMW M5 into a parking spot at the Lake Shore location of Portman, Dietz, and Taylor, his investment banking firm. He'd been having severe heartburn since last night. "Must have been the steak for dinner," he mumbled, thinking back to the peppercorns that had been on his filet mignon.

He pulled his briefcase from the back seat, feeling a little lightheaded as he stood up straight to shut the door. Maybe it would be best if he went back home after the morning meeting. Victoria was gone for the day, so he would have the house to himself. He sat down in the board room after greeting Annie, the receptionist. A few drops of sweat from his brow hit the table as he opened up his briefcase. "Rich, good morning!" Andy Dietz said, striding into the room.

"Hello, Andy," Richard said, swallowing hard from the heartburn.

"You alright, old friend?" Andy asked quietly, sitting down next to his Sigma Chi fraternity brother.

"Heartburn. Must have been something I ate," Richard said, unknowingly rubbing his shoulder.

Andy studied his friend for a moment. Sweaty and clammy. Heartburn. Pain in the shoulder. "Rich, let me take your pulse." Andy said quietly, not wanting to alarm his friend. The normal Rich would have refused, but today, he held out his wrist. Andy watched the clock. 90 bpm. Fast, but not horribly fast. "You let me know if you start to feel tingles anywhere," Andy said, leaning back in his chair just before the other board members entered the room.

* * *

Dean knew something was off today, but he just couldn't put his finger on it. Just before her rotation at the hospital, Julie had sent him a text message stating, "U ok? I have a funny feeling about today." It was the same kind of funny feeling that he was having. Something was going to happen.

He climbed out of bed around 9 am, banging on Fulton's door to wake his snoring roommate. Dean didn't have class until 11 am, but he wanted to get some breakfast before going to class. Fulton stumbled out of his room and straight into the living room to turn on the TV. Dean listened to the news anchor as he poured his Cheerios into a bowl. Fulton was obsessed with Fox News. "Hey, check this out, dude!" he yelled from the living room.

Dean popped his head out of the kitchen to check out the scene on the TV. A brightly colored graphic showed a hurricane in the Caribbean, headed straight for Texas. "Hurricane party!" Fulton yelled.

"Maybe I can sense hurricanes," Dean pondered as he added milk to his Cheerios.

* * *

As the morning meeting went on, the pain in Richard's shoulder became more noticeable, and now, he felt as if someone were sitting on his chest. He was starting to become worried, which made his heart pound even harder. His clammy hands shook as he held his ink pen. Just as he turned to whisper something to Andy, a sharp pain shot though his chest and he yelled out in pain. "I'm – I'm…" he gasped, but couldn't continue.

"He's having a heart attack!" Annie yelled from the doorway, having heard his cry of pain. She had been watching him through the glass of the board room walls, concerned by his pale skin and hunched over look. She ran back to her desk to call 911 as Andy checked Richard's pulse and breathing.

"He's not breathing!" Andy yelled, praying that the ambulance was only seconds away. A few others helped him get Richard to the floor, and he began CPR.

* * *

"51 year old male, MI, ETA 6 minutes," a calm voice stated over the Emergency Department's intercom. Julie turned to her trainer, who nodded. They would be involved in this call. As the nurse in training, Julie would be responsible for ensuring that the crash cart and its associated drawers were ready to save this man's life. She sprinted down the hall to Trauma Room 1 and quickly inventoried the drawers. Noticing that there was only one dose of epinephrine present, she hurried off to the store room to get another.

As usual, the time between the call and the arrival flew by, and soon a stretcher came flying through the double doors from the ambulance bay. One paramedic was pushing the stretcher and squeezing the air bag as another straddled the patient while doing chest compressions. Julie's adrenaline started to flow as two doctors ran to catch up the stretcher. The group flooded into Trauma Room 1.

"51 year old male, massive MI, no pulse on arrival, gave two of epi…" the paramedic spouted as they transferred the patient over to the bed in the trauma room. As the doctors and nurses hooked up the monitors, Julie pushed in the crash cart and pulled out a few doses of the medicine that the doctors would probably request.

"Patient's name?" Dr. Garver asked, handing the chart to Julie's trainer, Samantha. Julie looked down at the patient, noticing his neatly trimmed nails and well made suit.

"Richard Portman, investment banker," the paramedic said, consulting his chart.

"NO!" Julie screamed, rushing to the head for confirmation. Everyone looked over at her, startled by her reaction. "He's my boyfriend's father!" she said, choking back a sob.

"Julie, go wait for me in the hall," Samantha said softly, taking the syringes out of Julie's hands.

Julie anxiously watched through the window of the doors to Trauma Room 1 as the doctors powered up the paddles and gave Dean's dad three shocks before they were able to get his heart to beat again. A man in a stylish black suit accompanied by a 40-ish year old woman in a lavender suit came storming up to the door and joined Julie. "Is he going to be okay? I'm Andy Dietz, his business partner," the man panted from running, his face white.

"I don't know. I had to leave the room," Julie said, her voice strained and high. The man studied her for a second and she continued, "I'm Dean's girlfriend." The woman clapped her hand over her mouth and reached out to hug Julie as Samantha slipped out of the Trauma Room.

"Let's all go over to the Nurses' Station and we'll get Mrs. Portman's contact information from you," Samantha said calmly, soothing Julie immediately. One day, she hoped to be as good of a nurse as Samantha.

"I called her on the way over. She should be here in a few minutes," the lavender clad woman said, clutching her purse. As she finished her sentence, Julie recognized a voice at the Triage Nurse's desk.

"They brought my husband here, Richard Portman. They said he's had a heart attack!" she sobbed, clutching her purse to her stomach. Julie ran to the Triage Nurse's station and was enveloped by the usually cold Victoria Portman. "Oh, Julie!" she cried, hugging Julie around the shoulders.

"Come on Mrs. Portman, let's get you a seat in the family waiting room," Samantha said, leading the other two off down the hall and into a smaller room that was empty except for a little old lady who was sitting in the corner, reading a magazine. "Julie," Samantha whispered as Mrs. Portman took a seat and immediately got on her cell phone to call her mother, "Stay with her for a little while, and then come find me when you're ready to take your mind off the situation. This is an opportunity for you to learn a very important skill: working through a crisis."

In a matter of fifteen minutes, Mrs. Portman had arranged for Carrie to leave school and be driven to the hospital, contacted Chad, and arranged a flight for Dean. Julie was walking back with a cup of coffee for Mrs. Portman when she heard her talking to Dean on the phone. "Dean, sweetheart, I need for you to pack your things quickly and head to the airport. Daddy has had a heart attack and he's very sick. We need for you to come home," she said, addressing him as if he were a child.

Julie heard Dean's voice through the speaker of the phone. "Okay, I'm leaving now. Where are you?" he said.

"We're at Northwestern Memorial," Mrs. Portman said, looking around to be sure.

"Julie's there, isn't she?" Dean asked.

"Yes, she's right here next to me," Mrs. Portman said, noticing that Julie had re-entered the room. Julie couldn't make out what Dean said next, but Mrs. Portman handed the cell phone to her.

Julie put the phone up to her ear and heard Dean say, "Jules?"

"Yeah, I'm here," she said softly, still a bit shaken from what she had seen.

"Tell me the truth. How is he?" Dean asked, softening his voice as if he knew his mother would be listening in.

Julie excused herself for a second and walked out into the hallway. "He didn't have a pulse when they brought him in and he wasn't breathing. They gave him about 4 doses of epi and shocked him three times that I saw. By now, I'm sure he's on the vent and they're probably taking him up to the cath lab to see how much blockage is there to determine what kind of procedure they will need to do. He's very sick, Dean," Julie explained quietly, knowing Dean would be able to handle hearing the truth.

"Okay, I'm on my way to the airport," he said, grabbing his hastily packed suitcase. What he didn't have, he would buy when he made it to Chicago.

"Alright. Be careful," Julie said, walking back into the waiting room.

"I love you, Julie," Dean said, his heart beginning to pound with the fear of how his father may look.

"I love you too," Julie said, and closed the phone. Dean's mother looked up at her strangely for a second but then smiled slightly, taking back the phone that Julie handed to her.

Julie returned to work for the next few hours while Dean was on the plane. Mrs. Portman had forced her to agree to taking the Portmans' BMW X5 and picking Dean up at O'Hare Airport. Samantha hugged Julie tightly when Julie located her in a treatment room down the hall. "They've taken him to the cath lab to find out what happened," Samantha said, "so for now, let's worry about the things that we can change. There's a 5 year old boy with asthma in room 5, let's go in and administer his breathing treatment."

* * *

Dean ran from the security checkpoint to the gate in an effort to make the final boarding call for his plane to Chicago. Panting, he handed his boarding pass to the employee at the gate, who motioned him forward. "Sorry," Dean whispered as she tore the stub off of the pass.

He made his way up the narrow aisle and stowed his carry on bag in the upper bin before plopping down in his aisle seat. His row was empty, so he scooted over to the window seat and tried to get a grip on himself as the baggage was loaded and the plane was readied for take off.

He just couldn't believe it… His father, the most "in charge" man he'd ever known, was lying in a hospital bed, clinging to life because of something as small as a blocked artery. And it wasn't as if his father was overweight or ate very fatty foods; his father was average, and his mother frequently cooked very healthy meals. It must have been the stress of working 80+ hours a week, Dean concluded.

He thought back to years of his father missing his hockey games and his brother's soccer games, and he knew that his father hadn't been to one of his sister's choir concerts, not even the concert at Christmas when she'd had a very important solo. Dean had been so angry at his father because he had promised his sister that he would be at the concert, and then he made an excuse about being called away at the last moment. It was Christmas, for heaven's sake. Carrie had cried almost the entire rest of the night and refused to eat breakfast with the family the next morning, Christmas morning. Dean could clearly recall going into Carrie's room with Chad and convincing her that her solo had been great, even without their father's presence, and that she shouldn't let him ruin her Christmas.

That thought brought back memories of another let down. Dean thought back to his high school graduation from Eden Hall; the memory was still so fresh in his mind that he could smell the distinct smell of the Eden Hall campus: grass and the lake. He had been expecting both of his parents to show up to his graduation ceremony, but when he walked up to the stage with his fellow Ducks and classmates, he saw only his mother, sitting with his Grandma. The rest of the day was a blur; he really shouldn't have been surprised, but he thought that this time it would have been different.

Rubbing his tired eyes, Dean watched the horizon as the plane began to move down the runway. _My children are always going to know that I love them. I will always be there when they need me, _he vowed to himself, sighing heavily. Dean felt guilty being angry at his father while he was in Chicago, on his deathbed, but so many years of hurt clouded any loving feelings Dean had.

He slipped into a fitful sleep as they passed over Oklahoma. Soon, he was slowly making his way off the airplane, through the gate, and down to the baggage claim area. He didn't even know who was going to be there to meet him, but the only person he wanted to see standing in the Greeting Area was Julie. The flight had been very turbulent, waking him up every fifteen to twenty minutes, and now his stomach was in knots. Just as he was considering going to the bathroom to vomit, he saw Julie's blonde hair through the crowd. She waved at him sadly and walked to meet him, a concerned look on her face.

"Hi," she said softly, reaching out to hug him. He was amazed at how much older and professional she looked in her scrubs, wearing her badges from the hospital, but when her arms wrapped around his neck, he only felt his girlfriend in his arms. The sadness and stress of the situation mixed with his overwhelming happiness to be with Julie, and the two emotions conflicted in his head. As he held on to her tightly, his eyes filled with tears, but he didn't let them fall. He was the strong one, he was the reliable brother, and he had to be strong for his sister and his mother. There would be time for the tears later, when no one else was around.

Julie slowly pulled away from Dean's tight grasp and studied his face. "Are you feeling okay?" she whispered, taking his carry on bag from him.

"The flight had a lot of turbulence. I'm feeling very nauseous," he said, pulling his suitcase along as they walked out to the parking garage. After a few silent moments, Dean finally said in a confused voice,"What did you drive here?"

Julie smiled, holding up his mother's keys and jingling them. "Your mom practically forced me into the car," she said, smiling.

"Damn, she must like you. She won't even let me drive it!" he laughed, rubbing his bloodshot eyes and following Julie onto the elevator.

To be continued…


	13. Corazon, Part 2

The continuation of Chapter 10. Julie will be pretty much absent in this chapter, as it is all about Dean and his family. It will still have some references to Julie, though.

**Chapter 11: Corazon, Part 2**

Dean met his mother in the hallway of the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit after saying goodbye to Julie, who had to return to work in the Emergency Department. He hid his shaking hands in the pocket of his jeans. His mother looked as pale and sickly as he felt, and as she hugged him, he could feel her holding back her sobs of despair. "Prepare yourself, Dean," she whispered, "But remember, your dad is still there, under all the tubes."

They stepped inside the large single room where Dean's father lay, unconscious and still on the ventilator. Dean's breath caught in his throat as he walked forward toward his father. Chad was sitting in a chair at the foot of the bed, his eyes closed. Dean's hand instinctively covered his mouth to shield his expression of disbelief and horror. "Tomorrow is his surgery. They say he needs a triple bypass to remove the blockage," Victoria said, her hand on Dean's shoulder.

Dean's ill stomach had not yet recovered from the flight to Chicago, and now, he felt that he might need to vomit. "I think I'm going to be sick," he whispered, running to the bathroom.

* * *

Late that night, Dean sat in the hospital room with his mother and brother, holding a silent vigil as they listened to the whooshing of the ventilator. "Boys, I'm going to need your help these next few months. Someone has to be there for Carrie, and I have to take Dad's place at the firm," Victoria said quietly, looking over at them. 

Chad spoke first, "Can't you temporarily transfer Dad's roles to Andy?"

Their mother shook her head firmly, "This firm is 51 percent ours and I'm not going to let someone else decide what is best for my family. I have an MBA just like your father, and I am going to run that company while he is…," she paused, and continued tearfully, "It's what he would have wanted."

Dean had forgotten about his mother's MBA. Feeling the need to bring out the letter that was burning a hole in his pocket, he said, "This won't help until January, but…" He pulled out a tattered letter and handed it to his mother, who was sitting next to his brother. They both leaned over to read it.

"Dear Mr. Dean Portman, you have been accepted to Columbia College Chicago's prestigious department of Arts, Entertainment, and Media Management…" Chad read, taking the letter from his mother after she had finished. They both looked at Dean quizzically as he leaned his elbows on his knees in exhaustion. Chad's watch beeped once to indicate that it was 1 am.

"Will Dad be angry?" Dean asked, looking at his mother.

She shook her head and smiled slightly. "Why are you transferring?" she asked, folding the letter and handing it back to him.

Dean searched for a reasonable explanation that did not involve Julie and said, "A&M wasn't for me. I wanted to be back here in Chicago. It's my home."

"I think you're transferring because you are in love with Julie," Dean's mother smirked, folding her hands in her lap. Chad chuckled and leaned back in his seat.

"So what if I am? My life has changed. I don't want to be in Texas anymore. I want to be here with her," Dean said defensively and crossed his arms.

Victoria smiled sincerely this time and said, "Do you want to marry her?" Dean stared at his mother for a second and then nodded. "Are you going to ask her?" she continued.

"Maybe next semester. I want to see how things go," Dean said softly, looking down at the floor, his cheeks flushed. "Will Dad be angry?" he asked again softly.

"You let me take care of your dad," Victoria said, smiling sadly and looking over to the motionless Richard.

Chad spoke up. "I'll take a few months off from the dealership. They run just as well without me anyway. I'll move back home and stay with Carrie while you work, Mom," he said, sitting up. Chad had recently purchased a Subaru, BMW, and Audi dealership in East Chicago and had been overseeing the daily operations. Victoria reached over and squeezed Chad's hand.

"We'll make it through this, boys. Dad is usually the one that holds us all together, but now, I'm going do it. Nobody every stopped the Portmans from succeeding before, and they're not going to start now," Victoria said, looking over at Richard.

* * *

As the morning sun's light flooded the city of Chicago, Victoria Portman walked into the morning meeting at the uptown branch of Portman, Dietz, and Taylor. She was the last person to arrive and was prepared to make "an entrance." The heads of the graying men raised as the heels of her Manolos clicked on the limestone floor. She carried a briefcase in her hand and set it on the table as she pulled out the chair that was traditionally her husband's. 

"Good morning, Victoria," John Taylor said. Victoria noticed the condescending tone in his voice and did not respond to his greeting.

She flipped open her briefcase and pulled out several sheets of paper. All eyes were on her. Again, she was reminded of why she had chosen a career in business: the thrill of holding men in the palm of her hand. "Good morning, gentlemen. I have come today to inform you that while my husband is incapable of making decisions regarding this firm, I will be taking his place as CEO of Portman, Dietz, and Taylor to protect our 51 percent ownership in this firm."

Some opened their mouths to protest, but she raised her hand to silence them. "Before you object, I direct you to clause 23.1 of the foundation documents for this firm, which states 'In the case that a shareholder is incapacitated, his closest family relation shall substitute in all business decisions.' Furthermore, this next piece of paper, which you will see is one of the most durable Power of Attorney documents written, indicates that I, Richard Portman's wife, shall take over control of the 51 percent ownership of this firm in the case that he is incapacitated. I intend to be involved in this firm as heavily as my husband was. For those of you who are unfamiliar with me, I am also a Texas A&M graduate and I also have an MBA from A&M. Before becoming a mother, I was Chief Operating Officer of your competition, the Blackman Firm. Now, if there are any objections, I will hear them."

The room was silent. Andy Dietz hid a smile. Victoria Portman had once been the most powerful woman in Chicago short of Oprah Winfrey, and it looked like she was back again.

* * *

Richard Portman was wheeled into the recovery room after his 8 hour bypass surgery. The surgeons were pleased with the outcome and Richard's heart was beating strongly as he woke from the anesthesia. The first thought that came to his cloudy mind was Victoria. He was sure that she was doing what he had instructed in his Power of Attorney documents: running the firm. He was also sure that Dean and Chad would be at the hospital, waiting for him, but he wasn't so sure about Carrie. His only daughter, and he had treated her like a step child. Where had the once free spirited, once loving, once family oriented Richard Portman gone?

* * *

Julie looked down at Dean as he lay sleeping in her bed. She was off to class at Loyola, but considered skipping to stay in bed with Dean. Around 3 am, she had felt someone crawl into her bed, and she knew immediately that it was Dean, who had a key to her apartment. Silently, they laid in the bed, holding each other for a few minutes before they both drifted off to sleep. 

He hadn't yet told her about the letter from Columbia. Originally, he had planned on surprising her at Christmas, but now the circumstances had changed. He would think about it later.

To be continued…


	14. Prairie Fire

Maybe you'll recognize a line from the new Disney movie Cars. Don't worry. I have part of Chapter 13 written already.

**Chapter 12: Prairie Fire**

It felt like he had only been in Texas for a few hours before it was time again to board a plane for Chicago. It was Friday afternoon, and Dean was headed home for Thanksgiving, which was beginning a little early for him due to some class cancellations. His teachers had been sympathetic when he explained the reason for his week long absence in October. He was able to make up the assignments that he missed and was now back on track with all of his classes.

Julie paced her bedroom, cell phone in hand. She needed to call her mom and give advance notice that she would be bringing Dean home with her to Maine for Thanksgiving; she knew her mother would want to make special preparations for a guest. It was all about to become real with her phone call home. Her parents had known that she was talking to Dean frequently, but she really hadn't had a chance to tell them how serious the relationship had become. She, herself, still couldn't believe that they had been together for almost five months.

"Connie?" Julie called into the hallway.

"Yeah?" came a muffled reply from Connie's room. The brunette stuck her head out the door and saw Julie in the hall. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know…" Julie sighed, looking at her cell phone.

"Haven't you called your mom to tell her? She's going to be really happy," Connie said, following Julie into the living room and plopping down on the couch.

"That's just it. They're going to make a huge deal out of this because I haven't really been serious about anyone since Scooter," Julie said, sitting down beside Connie.

"I think that you're afraid to admit to yourself that you're growing up. It's not about Dean. It's about you having to be a grown up and bringing your serious boyfriend around your family for them to scrutinize. And then they're going to ask you when you're going to get married, and on and on. I know you. You hate that kind of stuff," Connie said.

Julie nodded. It really didn't have anything to do with Dean. She was in love with him and she knew it. "They're going to drive me crazy. Especially my Aunts," Julie grumbled, dialing her parents' phone number. "Hey, Allison, can I talk to Mom?" she said when her sister answered.

Connie examined her fingernails and listened to Julie as she said, "Mom, remember how I told you that I was kind of dating someone from high school, from the hockey team… Yeah, from the Ducks…Yeah, we're still dating, and well, he's going to be coming to Thanksgiving… No, we're not engaged… No, mother… Yes, the one from Chicago…" Julie rolled her eyes several times in response to her mother's questions as Connie tried to suppress her laughter. She exploded in laughter the second Julie ended the call, much to Julie's annoyance. "Thanks for the support, Connie," Julie said sarcastically, "Are you taking Charlie home with you?"

Connie pulled a blanket over her legs and replied, "Charlie and his mom are both coming over to my parents' house for Thanksgiving lunch, and then Charlie and I are going with my parents to my Aunt's house in Edina for Thanksgiving dinner. My whole family is going to be there. Charlie is going to freak." She laughed manically and Julie shook her head. "How about you? Are you doing anything with the Portmans before you leave?" Connie asked, grabbing the remote off the coffee table.

"We're going to have lunch with Dean's parents and bother and sister and grandma this Saturday. We can't leave for Maine until Monday night because of wonderful Professor Stanton not canceling class. Dean is taking me out tonight because he says he has some important news that he wants to share with me," Julie said, waiting for Connie's predictable outburst.

"Important news! What in the heck is it?" Connie said, practically jumping up off the couch. Julie shook her head and laughed as Connie continued, "Did he give you a hint? Do you have any idea of what it might be?" Connie's voice had tapered off to a whisper and she now had her hand over her mouth, looking at Julie in curiosity.

"I have absolutely no idea what it is. He said it isn't bad though," Julie said, grabbing the remote from Connie and turning on the TV for some Law and Order reruns.

* * *

"So, little bro, have you told Julie yet about transferring?" Chad asked Dean as they climbed into Chad's brand new BMW M6 coupe.

"No, but I'm going to tell her tonight night. We're going out to dinner. It's been almost impossible trying to keep this thing a secret," Dean said, pushing his carry on bag into the small back seat.

"I'll bet," Chad said, starting the car, "Where are you taking her for dinner?"

"Well, I had reservations at Charlie Trotters in Lincoln Park, but then I changed my mind. That's more Mom than it is Julie. I think I've seen Julie in a dress about 5 times in the seven and a half years that I have known her. I think I'll take her to Gino's. The one near her apartment is pretty much deserted on Friday night, if you can believe it. I think it's because everyone is at Columbia watching the plays and musicals that they have on Friday nights," Dean said, checking his watch.

"You staying over there tonight?" Chad asked, entering the expressway to head back to their house.

Dean nodded, "Most likely, but I'll be back early. Mom wants me to help her with lunch tomorrow. Apparently we're all supposed to have some kind of a bonding thing with her and dad?"

Chad rolled his eyes and nodded, "Yeah, now that Dad is at home doing nothing and Mom is working, we haven't spent a whole lot of time together."

"Has anything changed between Dad and Carrie? I mean, I know things are forever going to be the same between Dad and us, but there's still hope for Carrie since she is just now in high school. There's still a chance that he won't ignore her like he did us," Dean said, knowing that Chad had been thinking about the same thing.

"Well, little bro, I'm not sure. I heard Mom and Dad having a huge fight in the living room after Carrie and I went to bed about a week and a half ago. I've been taking care of Carrie almost completely, and Dad has just been sitting around the house, depressed. He says he can't sleep. So the doctor put him on some antidepressants last week. Things seem to be slightly better, but Carrie still cries all the time. You know how she is," Chad said, glancing over at Dean briefly.

"Poor little sis. I'll be glad when I'm home. But still, two brothers aren't as good as a dad," Dean said, sighing heavily.

* * *

"You look cute," Dean said to Julie after she opened the apartment door later that evening. She was wearing a black and silver ACDC t-shirt, jeans, and no shoes with orange painted toenails. She blushed slightly as she closed the door behind him. No matter how many times he complimented her, she still couldn't get used to it. "But, I think there's one thing that's missing…" he said, reaching into his jacket pocket. Connie looked over curiously from her spot on the couch as Julie turned to look at Portman, who was holding a long Tiffany & Co box.

"Oh Dean, I don't need a present!" She said, not yet taking the box.

"Yes you do! You're going to have to be with my parents tomorrow. Consider it a bribe. After lunch with my parents and my grandma with things being they way they are right now, you're going to know why I gave you this," Dean laughed, opening her hand and placing the box in it.

Julie reluctantly opened the box and revealed the Tiffany necklace that she had wanted since high school, the silver heart tag choker that read "Return to Tiffany & Co." She was shocked for a moment but then looked back at Connie suspiciously. "What?" Connie said, pretending to be innocent, "It's not like I told him _exactly_ what to get." They dissolved into laughter as Julie removed the necklace from the box and put it around her neck.

"Beautiful," Dean said, leaning down to give her a quick kiss.

"Thank you," she said softly against his lips. She touched the necklace with her right hand; sometimes it was nice to be dating the rich guy.

"Gino's okay with you?" he asked as they climbed into his Camaro. She nodded, pulling on a grey zip up sweatshirt. "Cold?" he asked her, reaching up to stroke her cheek. Her hand held his to her face as she pulled him toward her for a kiss. She usually wasn't so forward, but she had really missed him and was eager to "turn up the heat" so to speak.

Reluctantly pulling away but leaving his forehead against hers, Dean whispered, "I _really_ missed you, Julie. I couldn't stop thinking about getting back here to Chicago, to be with you."

Throughout dinner, Julie waited and waited for Dean's big news. She forced herself to refrain from flat out asking him as they snuggled in a secluded booth at the popular Chicago eatery. Dean was acting a little funny, she noticed.

Dean's heart pounded as he tried to pluck up the courage to tell Julie his news. It wasn't as if the news was bad; in fact, moving back to Chicago was going to change his life. However, a part of him was skeptical. He was so in love with Julie that he could barely stand to be away from her, yet he was so afraid that she would push him away after he made such a life changing decision. He knew his fears were unfounded and illogical, but he just couldn't push them away. "You want to go to a club down the street?" he asked, afraid to stay in the intimate atmosphere for much longer.

"Dean, I'm not 21 yet, remember?" she said, frowning.

"It's alright, the owner is Chad's best friend from high school, he'll let you in," Dean said, dropping the tip money on the table as they climbed out of the booth.

M's was two blocks from the restaurant, so they left the Camaro parked in front of Gino's and walked to the club silently. Both were wondering what the other was thinking.

Luckily, Chad's friend was standing just inside the door, greeting people and checking IDs. "Dean Portman!" he yelled happily, reaching out to hug Dean. "Who is this hot lady?" he asked, taking Julie's hand and kissing it.

"Todd, this is Julie, my girlfriend. Julie, Todd, my brother's best bud," Dean said, possessively wrapping his arms around Julie's waist.

"Well, enjoy your night, you two! Ricky, these two drink for free all night!" Todd yelled to the bartender and then gestured for Julie and Dean to go on up to the bar. 20 somethings gyrated to the hip hop music that was blaring from the speakers. The club was somewhat packed, but not unbearable.

"Hey, Ricky, gimme a Red Death," Dean said.

"You guys have a Prairie Fire?" Julie asked, causing Dean to look at her in surprise.

"Sure do, hot stuff," the bartender said, slamming down two shot glasses and beginning to mix the drinks.

Ricky slid the shot glasses out to Dean and Julie. "On three?" Dean asked and Julie nodded, knowing that this was going to hurt.

"1… 2… 3!" Dean said, and they both slammed back the shots. Julie shook her head slightly as the mixture burned her throat as it slid down.

"What the hell is in that?" Dean asked, noticing her discomfort.

"Tequila, 151, and Tabasco Sauce," she said, her voice slightly hoarse, "Got any gum?"

An hour later, Julie was feeling pretty buzzed. Dean had only had the one shot at the beginning of the night, knowing that he would have to drive them back to her apartment. Julie, on the other hand, had ordered two more shots, and was now feeling loose enough to dance with Dean out on the dance floor.

"I am a horrible dancer when I'm sober," she said, wrapping her arms around his neck as the pair moved to the medium tempo song. She was still alert, but Dean could tell that she was a little intoxicated.

"I'm sure you're fine," Dean said, breathing hot air onto her neck. His hands found their way to her butt and she giggled quietly, pulling herself closer to him as the song "Me & U" by Cassie poured from the speakers.

Around 2 am, Dean led a sleepy Julie out to his car and then back into her apartment. He had successfully procrastinated telling her his news.

* * *

Dean knew that Thanksgiving lunch with his family was going to be a disaster. From the second he stepped back into the house at 8 am, his father and sister fought like cats and dogs about Joseph, who Dean deduced was his sister's first high school boyfriend. "Carrie, I don't like the vibe that I get from him. He won't look me in the eye, which tells me that he isn't trustworthy and that he has ill intentions with you!" Richard yelled from the kitchen table. Carrie was rinsing her cereal bowl but dropped it when she began to wail. "Quit your crying and clean up the damned mess!" Richard continued, throwing down his newspaper and getting up from the table. Carrie cried softly as she bent down to pick up the shattered bowl. Dean sighed heavily, making his way to the stairs.

"Where have you been all night?" Richard asked him angrily.

"At Julie's. I told you I was going to be there all night," Dean said, not letting his father anger him. He had come a long way in controlling his anger, and he wasn't going to let a snide remark from his father set him off. Dean continued up the stairs to shower and get dressed.

The meal preparation was more of the same: Richard yelling at everyone and Carrie crying. Victoria was trying her best to remain positive while she injected the ham with the seasoning kit that she had purchased at the grocery store. She hadn't been cooking lately due to her new position at the investment firm, so it was nice to be back in the kitchen, using the creative side of her brain. Chad and Dean sat at the kitchen table, peeling potatoes and ignoring their father.

The arrival of Angeline Portman did not help. "Sit up straight, Dean, you look like a slob. Chad, get a haircut, my boy, I can't see your beautiful Portman eyes. Carrie… I hear you have a new boyfriend?" Angeline said, wrapping an apron around her waist and taking the mixer right out of Victoria's hands. "What are you doing to these potatoes, Vikki? Killing them?" she continued.

"Why can't we just have one of those Grannies that slips you a $20 every time she hugs you?" Chad whispered to Dean as they carried trash bags out to the barrels behind the garage.

"But Chad, where would Dad get his horrible attitude if Grandma wasn't so mean?" Dean asked sarcastically, causing his brother to laugh.

Dean left the house just as Grandma was laying in to Carrie about her new boyfriend. Wearily, he drove to Julie's apartment. He hoped for Julie's sake that she had dressed up. He thought she was beautiful in anything, but he knew his grandmother was going to tear Julie to shreds.

"I'm ready. Bring them on," Julie said as she stepped out into the living room to greet Dean, who had let himself in. Julie was wearing an elaborately beaded twin set, a perfectly tailored pair of trousers, and rich brown boots. She had placed curlers in her hair, which fell in golden ringlets.

Dean's heart stopped. "Oh, Julie Gaffney… one day, I'm going to marry you. But right now, you have to meet my cranky grandma," Dean said, pulling her close for a kiss.

"Don't mess up my lipstick, now," Julie warned, smiling, "You know I only wear makeup once every three years." They chuckled and Dean kissed her quickly.

"Oh, Julie! Don't you look fabulous," Victoria said, greeting Julie in the foyer and taking her coat.

"Oh, thank you," Julie said, startled by her cheerful compliment.

"Julie, this is my grandma, Angeline Portman. Grandma, this is my girlfriend, Julie," Dean said, uncomfortably, presenting Julie to his grandmother, who was sitting primly at the dining room table.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Portman," Julie said, shaking the woman's outstretched hand. Angeline Portman did not look to be much older than 50, but she had a sour look on her face that did not match the rest of her beautiful body. Dean's family was full of the most unhappy people Julie had ever met. She couldn't wait to get home to her own family.

"It's my pleasure, dear. Vikki tells me that you are going to be a nurse. I myself was a nurse before I met dear Ruben, rest his soul," Grandma Portman said, gesturing for Dean and Julie to take a seat.

Julie was grateful for the beginning of lunch. The sooner they were done eating, the sooner she and Dean could get away from his toxic parents and grandmother. As soon as the prayer ended, Grandma Portman started in on Chad, who was not married and was not seriously dating anyone that they knew of. "Why don't we go around and say what we are thankful for, okay?" Victoria said, passing the potatoes to Julie, who was on her right.

"I'll go first!" Victoria said, taking advantage of the family's silence, "I'm thankful for my wonderful family, my health, Richard's continued recovery, puppies, the White Sox, convection ovens, BMWs, and Crème de la mer. Julie?"

"Well," Julie stammered, feeling Dean's leg bump hers in what she knew was an apology, she said, "Well, I'm thankful for my family, my friends, good food, fast cars, medical advancements, hockey, and the United States."

After Dean and Angeline Portman, Richard ended his list by saying, "And I'm thankful that Carrie is going to dump Joseph." That set off a chain reaction that began with a tearful wail from Carrie. Grandma Portman joined in by yelling at Victoria for raising her daughter poorly, and pretty soon, everyone but Julie and Victoria were yelling at each other. Slowly, Victoria stood up, empty china plate in her hand. Julie leaned back, knowing what was about to happen.

The plate shattered, startling everyone as Victoria screamed at the top of her lungs, "ENOUGH!"

Slowly, everyone drifted back down into their seats. "I'm out of here," Carrie said tearfully, "I hate you Dad, and I hate you Grandma. And most of all, I hate YOU, Mom, for not sticking up for me." Carrie ran at full tilt for her room. A few seconds later, they all heard a door slam so hard that a picture fell off the wall in the living room.

"If you'll excuse me, I have to take care of my sister now. And you all wonder why I don't bring any women around you. Dean, you're brave," Chad said, standing up and slowly climbing the stairs to talk to Carrie.

"This all started when YOU went back to work," Richard said in an angry whisper, looking at Victoria.

"Richard, either you become a better father, or I'm filing for divorce," Victoria said, getting up from the table to follow her son and daughter.

"I told you that you should have made her sign that pre-nuptial agreement," Angeline said scornfully to Richard, "Dean, learn from your father."

Everyone else left the table, leaving Dean and Julie alone in the dining room. "Do you want me to take you back to your apartment? I have to come back here to make sure my sister is okay, and then I'll come back over and stay with you again tonight, if you don't mind," Dean said, his voice tired.

"Are you sure you don't want me to stay here with you?" Julie asked, placing her hand on Dean's arm and turning toward him.

Dean shook his head, "You've seen enough today. I don't want this to change the way you feel about me."

"Try as we may, Dean, no one is perfect," Julie said.

Several hours later, Julie lounged in her bed, watching reruns of Law and Order and eating ice cream. Connie and Charlie had already left for Minnesota, so Julie was all alone. It was nice, actually. She really didn't want to have to retell the story of what had happened at the Portmans' house, and she also knew that Connie would be mad at her for not knowing Dean's big news.

"Hi," Dean said softly, opening the bedroom door.

"You alright?" Julie asked, beginning to climb out of bed.

"No, don't get up. Let me take off my shoes and I will join you," he said, setting his overnight bag on the floor and kicking off his tennis shoes. He had changed out of his Thanksgiving clothes and was wearing a pair of slightly worn jeans and a Minnesota Wild t-shirt. His eyes were bloodshot and swollen, as if he had been crying. As he crawled into bed and got closer to her, Julie noticed that Dean had a cut on his cheek and a slightly black eye.

"What happened to you?" she whispered, taking his face in her hands.

"Nothing. I'll tell you about it later. Right now, I just want to be here with you," he said, smiling, "Watching reruns of Law and Order."

To be continued!


	15. The Aunts

Whoops! The Cars line is in this one, not 12. I split the chapters at the last minute. This chapter will be a lot less angsty and hopefully funny. Thank you soooooo much to all of my reviewers and the people who have me as a favorite or have me on alert! I am happy with the way this story is turning out.

_**Also, don't forget to read Chapter 12, which I uploaded last night.**_

**Chapter 13: The Aunts**

Julie threw down her backpack and ventured into her bedroom to greet Dean after her Monday class. Dean was zipping up her suitcase after finishing the rest of her packing while she was in her last class before Thanksgiving break. "Hey," she said softly, smiling at him.

"Hellooooooo Nurse!" he said, causing her to laugh as he picked her up off the ground in his hug. "I can't resist a girl in uniform," he continued.

"Dean, we don't have time for this! We have to get to the airport!" She laughed, pushing his head away from her neck. He groaned, but set her back down on the ground.

"I finished packing your bag. You might want to check to see that I got everything. I'll start loading the car while you change," he said, picking up his carry on bag.

"Wait, let me look at your eye really quick," she said, stopping him.

He frowned and sighed, "Jules, sweetie, I don't want to talk about it."

"I know. I just want to make sure that you have a broken nose or anything," she said, pushing him down onto the bed. He put his hands on her waist as she took his face in her hands, examining the area near his left eye and nose. The swelling had gone down, and the bruising under his eye was hidden by the dark circles that had formed from lack of sleep. She ran her fingers down his nose, feeling for bumps or swollen spots.

"How am I, nurse? Do I need another dose of Julie?" he said, laughing.

"I think you're just fine. Now, get out of my hospital!" she replied, whacking him on the shoulder.

* * *

They boarded their plane to Bangor, Maine at 1:30 pm and Julie leaned her seat back to take a nap. She hated flying, but it was nice to have Dean with her. Usually, she took some Nyquil just before the trip and was able to sleep throughout the flight home. Dean had promised her that she would be okay, so she skipped the Nyquil. The stewardess came around with drinks and peanuts while Julie reclined in her seat, eyes closed. "Sir, would you like something to drink?" she said softly, noticing that Julie was asleep. Dean nodded and took the Coke that she offered. "And your wife?" the stewardess continued.

"She'll have a Coke also," Dean said, smiling slightly. It sounded nice, Julie as his wife.

As the stewardess continued on down the aisle, Julie looked up at Dean and smiled. "Didn't feel like correcting her?" she whispered.

"Just practicing for later," Dean said, squeezing her hand and smirking. Julie rolled her eyes with a smile and then tried to go back to sleep. Again, she was amazed at this older and more mature Dean Portman.

After disembarking and gathering their luggage, Dean and Julie met Julie's father, Michael Gaffney, at the baggage carousel. "My girl! You look great, sweetheart!" her father said, hugging her quickly and taking the suitcase that she was pulling. "And you must be Dean," he said, reaching out to shake Dean's hand, "Dean, it is so nice to meet you. Julie likes to keep us out of her love life. I think she thinks that we will embarrass her!" Julie cringed. That's exactly how she felt, and she knew that she was going to be perpetually embarrassed this holiday.

"So, Dean, have you ever been to a New England Thanksgiving?" Mike asked, steering the Chevy Tahoe onto the freeway.

"No, sir, I haven't," Dean replied, looking over at Julie.

"Well, I hope you like lobster and crab! Our family doesn't do ham or turkey," he said happily.

"I forgot to tell you that," Julie whispered apologetically. She hoped that Dean didn't have a seafood allergy.

"It's okay, I love lobster. Crab is just okay, but lobster is great," Dean said, sliding Julie's hand into his own.

They pulled up to the Gaffneys' spacious 5 bedroom Colonial in the suburbs of Bangor. Dean smiled at the blonde girl in the yard with her matching blonde Labrador. "That's Allison, my sister," Julie whispered, "Just one of the many blondes that you are going to meet." Dean glanced over at Julie's dad, noticing for the first time that his hair was just as blonde as Julie's.

"They're here, Mom!" Allison screamed from the yard, running up to hug her sister as they climbed out of the Tahoe.

"Hi, Al!" Julie said, hugging her sister, who appeared to Dean to be around 12.

An older version of Julie stepped outside from the front porch, her hands busy pulling her long, blonde hair into a pony tail. Dean's heart skipped a beat. She was the most beautiful woman in the world… well, second most beautiful. "You must be Dean!" she said, shaking his hand firmly, "I'm Kim, Julie's mommy." Julie rolled her eyes to no one in particular, but hugged her mom when coaxed.

"So, how was your flight? Are you engaged yet?" Kim said in a rush, leading the group into the house.

"MOM!" Julie said, outraged as Dean hid his laugh behind his hand. This was going to be an interesting week.

Julie's brother wasn't due to arrive from Georgia until Wednesday, but Julie's aunt and uncle from Rhode Island were already at her grandparents' house in Bar Harbor. "Do you two have plans for tonight?" Kim asked, passing a glass of lemonade to Dean, who was thirsty from laughing.

"I think I'm going to show Dean around Bangor, and maybe we'll get something to eat. What are you guys doing?" Julie said, taking a drink of Dean's lemonade.

"Daddy and I are taking Al to her swimming lesson tonight and then I think I'm just going to fix a pizza," Kim said, leaning back against the kitchen counter. Dean couldn't believe how much Julie looked like her mother. Even their mannerisms were the same, the way they talked, the way they flicked their long blonde hair, even their facial expressions.

"Grrr, my mother drives me nuts!" Julie said as she climbed into the driver's seat of her mother's Jeep Cherokee.

"Why, because you are exactly like her?" Dean said, knowing it would set Julie off.

"I am not!" Julie said, resisting the kiss that Dean was trying to pull her into.

"Yes you are, and there's nothing wrong with being like her. I like her already," Dean whispered, his lips meeting hers. Julie relaxed for a second and kissed him back. "I love you, Jules, and I love your family," he continued, sliding his fingers through her silky hair.

"You're not going to like them tomorrow, when we go to Grandma's for my cousin's birthday party. They aren't going to leave you alone. And you think my mom is bad about the engagement question, wait until you hear my grandma and my Aunt Carly. 'Julie, aren't you married yet? Julie, when are you going to have a baby? Julie, aren't any of those hockey players in love with you?'" Julie mocked, "And I'm never going to live it down when they find out where we met. I'm sure Mom has already told them. Just be prepared."

"Julie," Dean said seriously, making her look at him, "You should be thankful for your family. At least you know that they love you and support you. My family hates each other."

Slightly embarrassed and ashamed of herself, Julie backpedaled, "You're right… I do love my family. And I know that they will love you, because I love you." Her heart beat a little more quickly at her words. It had been tough to get it out, but now she felt like saying it a hundred times.

Julie gave Dean a tour of her neighborhood, where she went to school, and where she played hockey. He could imagine her here, running into the rink with her gear, talking to the other girls on her all girls hockey team, going to class, doing her schoolwork. It was almost as if he was meeting her again for the very first time.

The stopped off at Target so Julie could pick up a present for her cousin's birthday party that would occur the next day. Her cousin Cassidy would be turning 16. As they walked the aisles of Target, Julie couldn't help but steal glances at Dean. This was the most normal thing they had ever done. Usually, their weekends together consisted of spending as much time alone as possible, leaving her apartment only when they were hungry. Going shopping with Dean was a whole new experience.

* * *

The entire Gaffney family slept in the next morning, awoken at 10 am by Sticky, the yellow Labrador. "Sticky, shut up!" Julie heard Allison yell from down the hall. Julie groggily rolled out of bed, pulled a sweatshirt on over her pajamas, and ventured across the hall to the guest bedroom, where Dean was sleeping. She slowly opened the door, hoping that it wouldn't squeak. Dean was stretched across the Queen sized bed, his feet hanging out from under the comforter, which he had pulled over his head to shield his eyes from the sun.

"Dean?" Julie whispered, shutting the door behind her and sitting down on the bed. He mumbled something and then pulled the blanket down to reveal his face.

"Come on, sleepy. It's time for breakfast," Julie said, hearing her mom and dad talking in the kitchen as they started breakfast. Dean reached out and pulled Julie closer to him, throwing the covers over her body. "Okay, five more minutes," Julie conceded, wrapping her arms around his bare chest.

* * *

The drive to Bar Harbor was uneventful, and Allison told Dean all about her swimming lesson the previous night, and how she was much better than her brother ever had been according to her mother. Throughout the drive, Julie prayed that they would be the first to arrive at her grandma's. Her Uncle Ted and Aunt Carly were already there, but her Uncle Ryan and his family and her Uncle Jeff and his family still had to drive down from northern Maine. She knew that if the Gaffenys were the last to arrive, she would be swarmed by her aunts and older female cousins Amber, Alicia, Morgan, and Lacy.

"Oh noooooo," Julie whispered as they pulled into the drive of the large Bar Harbor house. Her entire family had already arrived.

As they climbed out of the Tahoe, her aunts, grandma, and cousins poured out of the house loudly. "Where is he, Julie? Where's your boyfriend?" Her Aunt Carly called, hurrying down the walk. An unsuspecting Dean stepped out of the Tahoe and into the arms of the most blondes he'd ever seen in one place.

"Oh, he has dark hair! How wonderful!" Julie heard her grandma exclaim. 8 women all latched on to Dean and led him into the house, firing questions at him.

"Wait! Grandma!" Julie yelled as Dean looked back at her in amusement. It was going to be a horrible day.

An hour later, Julie was finally able to pull Dean outside to apologize for her family's behavior. But before she could get out any words, Dean had pulled her close and was kissing her. Julie heard a high pitched squeal from at least five women and broke off the kiss to growl at the closest window. Several blondes disappeared from the window and Julie tried to free herself from Dean's arms to go back inside and yell at them, but Dean held her back, smiling the amused smile that had been on his face the entire day. "They're funny, Julie. They love you," he said, moving her hair out of her face and kissing her again.

"They drive me crazy," Julie pouted, "What did they say to you?"

"All kinds of stuff,none of which I amtelling," he said, pulling her even closer as she frowned.

"I'll get you back for this. You have to sleep sometime," she said, leaning her head against his soft sweatshirt.

"Can we go for a walk? I want to talk to you about something," Dean said, his voice faltering a little.

Julie leaned back to look at him. A walk? Perhaps to reveal his news?

"I have a better idea…" Julie said, leading him into the house.

"Uncle Ted?" Julie said, making her voice slightly whiny while linking her arm through her uncle's arm. He smiled down at her, always unable to resist his sister's daughters; they were mirror images of his dear little sister. "Do you think I could take a drive in your Porsche?" Julie said, smiling up at him. Dean, along with Uncle Ted, was almost hypnotized by Julie's pleading eyes. Dean shook his head slightly. _Remind me never to withhold anything from her,_ he thought to himself.

"Alright, be careful," Ted said with a smile. Julie was always careful, and he knew it. "Don't scare Dean," he added, chuckling as he picked up the beer he was nursing.

Julie led Dean out into the driveway, happily swinging the keys to the black 2005 Porsche 911 Turbo. Dean remained silent. He was slightly afraid due to the fact that he hadn't ever ridden in a car that Julie was driving. "Buckle up," she whispered, pushing in the clutch and starting the engine. A soft roar emitted from the car as Dean clicked the seatbelt into place.

"Where are we going?" he asked.

"Don't you big city kids ever just go for a drive?" she said, looking over at him. He shook his head and she smiled.

Several minutes later, he firmly gripped the pull handle on the door as Julie accelerated to 80 mph on the narrow country road. He had never seen such a look on her face as they sped through a thick line of trees and out into the open. Silently, she pointed to their right. Dean's breath caught in his throat as he saw the Maine shoreline for the very first time. "It's beautiful," he whispered, looking back at Julie. Her hand squeezed his briefly before she let go to downshift as they pulled into a small observation spot. The coastline and the road were deserted.

Dean followed her lead, getting out of the car and walking down a slight embankment to the rocky shore. The strong wind cut right through the sweatshirt he was wearing and blew Julie's hair in swirls around her head. She sat down on a rock and watched calmly as the waves pounded the rocks, making a deafening sound. "This is the thing that I miss the most," she said, raising her voice so she could be heard above the crashing waves.

They were quite for a few more minutes as Julie watched the waves and Dean watched Julie. "I want to marry you, did you know?" he said, causing her to look over at him.

"I know," she said, smiling coyly at him.

"I'm moving back to Chicago. To be with you… for the rest of my life," he said, his statement punctuated by a loud crash from the waves. She looked over at him, startled. So this had been his big news. Dean's heart pounded as Julie stared at him. He had chickened out at Gino's and now, he had finally found the nerve to blurt it out. He pulled the letter out of his back pocket and handed it to her, his hand shaking. She opened it and scanned it quickly, her eyes filling with tears. Before Dean could say anything else, Julie had pushed him backward off of the rock and onto the grassy embankment, landing on top of him. Her mouth found his, and she kissed him somewhat forcefully, rolling over and pulling him on top of her while they kissed. "Jules, what are you doing, sweetheart?" Dean asked, pulling back slightly so he could see her.

"Kissing the man I love. Is that a crime?" she said, pulling him back down to kiss her again.

"I wish we were back in Chicago," he whispered, kissing her ear as they stood up and hugged before being forced to head back to Julie's grandparents' house.

"And alone in my apartment," she added, her hand slipping up the back of his shirt.

"Yes, that does sound nice," he said, moving from her ear to her neck.

She groaned in disappointment, prising herself from Dean's arms. "Come on… I'm sure dinner is ready by now," she said glumly, tugging on his hand.

"Sweetie, you have leaves in your hair," Dean laughed, pulling them out before they climbed back into the Porsche.

To be continued!


	16. BONUS: Worthless

OMG, it's been like 3 years since I have worked on this fic. I was reading it again the other day and was inspired to do a few bonus chapters! I can't promise that my updates will be regular, but while I've got the itch, I'm going to try to take advantage of it! I hope you like this chapter! It helps to explain how Dean got his black eye in Chapter 12: Prairie Fire.

**Bonus Chapter: Worthless**

Dean's stomach churned as the fourth door in the four car garage slowly ascended to allow him entry. He had just dropped Julie off at her apartment, and the shame still burned in his chest. He was sure that she thought his family was the most horrible family she'd ever met, and he really hoped that she wouldn't hold it against him or think that he would ever act the way his father did toward their children. _Our children?_ Dean thought with a smirk, _Damn, am I in deep. With the Cat Lady. _He shook his head and smiled, enjoying a happy moment before heading back into his own personal hell.

Chad greeted him first. It was as if everyone had been waiting for Dean's return… the second he walked into the living room, all eyes were on him. "So nice of you all to behave yourselves in front of my girlfriend," Dean snarled.

Angeline remained silent, and Dean took this as a very small compliment. It meant that his grandma approved of Julie, or at least that she hadn't been able to come up with anything bad to say. Yet. The rest of the group remained silent as well, none of them offering an apology.

Dean shook his head, noticing that Carrie still hadn't come out of her room. Without a word, he ascended the grand staircase and walked through his mother's library loft, which overlooked the living room. Carrie's room was at the west end of the hall, his long legs carrying him there in just a few strides.

His sister's room was silent, and his knock seemed extra loud. "Who is it?" she asked angrily.

"It's Dean."

"Come in, it's unlocked."

Dean opened the door and stepped inside. His sister had her window propped open despite the Chicago chill and was tapping the ashes from a cigarette on the outside window sill.

"I thought I told you to quit that," Dean said softly, sitting down on his sister's messy bed.

"Well, mom wants me to lose weight. So it's smoking or eating, and I choose smoking." Carrie's eyes seemed hollow as she took a drag from the cigarette and blew the smoke out the window.

"So… are you okay?" Dean asked after a few moments of silence.

"Of course I'm not okay, but what the hell can I do about it?" Carrie asked, her brown eyes swimming with tears again. She took another long drag from the cigarette and blew out her breath shakily.

"So, are you into this guy? Tell me honestly… or are you just dating him to piss off Mom and Dad?"

"A little of both, I think. Mom keeps trying to hook me up with Derek Kousakis, since his mom is in her stupid sorority, but Derek is a complete prep."

Dean smiled. Carrie was turning into a female version of him. "And since Mom and Dad don't pay any attention to you when you do something good, you are dating a guy they disapprove of."

She was dumbfounded, he could tell. She flicked the butt of her cigarette out the window and then slid the pane shut.

"I used to do the same kinds of things," Dean continued, "But it never worked out for me in the end."

"Are you happy now?" she asked, and he could tell that she was desperate to hear him say yes, so that she would know that she could be happy one day too.

"When I'm with Julie, I'm happier than I've ever been in my entire life. When I step back into this house, no, I'm not happy. My days at Eden Hall were some of my best."

"I wish Mom would let me go to Eden Hall," Carrie said softly.

Dean was surprised by this. "Did you ask her?"

"Yeah, but she said that you were much more reliable than I was, and that she was afraid I would get pregnant if I went to boarding school." Carrie looked at the window again, her hands twitching the way Dean's once used to when he needed a cigarette.

Dean sighed. "I will talk to her about it. Maybe we could find you an all girls school. Even that would be better than staying here."

"You'll talk to her for me?" she asked, a small smile on her baby face.

"Of course I will. Even though you can't count on Mom and Dad, you can count on Chad and I."

She nodded. "I'm glad Chad moved home for a while. He never gets mad at me when I just want to talk about things. Junior high really sucks, you know?" Tears formed on her lashes again, causing more of her black eye makeup to run.

Dean reached out to hug Carrie, who threw her arms around his neck and cried in big sobs. His heart was breaking for her, but his anger toward his parents burned his throat like acid.

As she was sniffling and wiping her eyes, Carrie frowned and looked at the door. "Do you hear that noise?"

They were silent for a moment and Dean heard shouting. His brother shouting, to be exact. Carrie hopped up and flung the door open, dashing into the library loft to look down into the living room. "Dean!" she shouted.

Dean was already running down the hallway toward the stairs before Carrie noticed. Jumping the last four steps, Dean headed into the fray, attempting to pull his father and brother off of each other. Victoria stood by, biting her manicured nails in anxiety as Angeline calmly remained seated in one of the high backed chairs. "STOP IT!!" Carrie screamed from the balcony, worried more about her brother than she was for her father, who was still recovering from his surgery.

"Get off of him, Chad. You gotta quit this!" Dean yelled, throwing himself into the middle of the scuffle and trying to grab either his dad or his brother. A stray elbow nailed him right in the eye, stars appearing in his field of vision. He blinked it away, having had much worse injuries playing hockey. Finally wrapping his arms around Chad, Dean pulled him away from their father, who was huffing and puffing.

"You're a bastard," Chad spit at Richard, struggling to free himself from Dean's death grip.

"All three of you are worthless," Richard replied, his face ashen but contorted in anger. Dean felt the quick stab to his heart, which had once been hardened but was now softer because of Julie. He'd forgotten what this pain and disapproval felt like. It certainly wasn't the first time he'd heard it and he was sure it wouldn't be the last, but this one hurt more than usual.

Dean felt his brother go limp as well, so he released his grip, knowing his brother was too hurt to go after their father again. Glancing at Carrie out of the corner of his eye, he saw her cover her mouth to stifle the sobs.

"I'm out of here tonight. See you all later," Dean said softly, heading back to his room to change and grab a few things before heading to Julie's. Chad was on his heels, not wanting to remain in the living room but not wanting to be alone either. Carrie brought up the rear, joining them after they had ascended the stairs once more.

They were all silent as Dean hastily shoved clothes in his bag and stepped into the walk in closet to change. Zipping his bag up, he said tersely, "Call me if you need me. And Chad, stay away from Dad. Really, you might kill him, and I don't want to have to bail you out and spend your inheritance on a lawyer."

Chad smirked despite himself. "Okay, little bro."

Stepping into his bathroom to grab a few things, Dean caught a glimpse of his face in the mirror. The area under his eye was turning a faint shade of purple as a result of the flying elbow, and he grimaced. Julie was going to ask questions, and violence on Thanksgiving was something he just didn't want to discuss with her.

Carrie followed Chad downstairs to the Game Room to watch a movie as Dean silently made his way through the living room, the kitchen, the mud room, and into the garage. Tossing his bag into the passenger seat, he sat in silence for a moment, his hands gripping the leather steering wheel.

He felt 15 all over again. His face flushed and his eyes stung as he fought off the angry tears. With a frustrated growl, he pushed the clutch in a little harder than needed, and turned the key. The loud roar filled the garage before he backed out into the circular driveway. Looking at the house in his rear view mirror, in the end, he only felt emptiness.


	17. The Wife

I've been reading some other Julie and Dean fics, and they are great! I love Fulton and Tammy together, especially since her character is easier to write because she has minimal history.

Well, this isn't the best chapter in the world, but it's another transitiony type chapter.

**Chapter 14: The Wife**

"So what is Fulton going to do?" Julie asked, cradling the phone against her shoulder as she painted her toenails.

"Well, I think he's going to finish up his year here at A&M and then he's talking about trying to get on a minor league team back in Minnesota. Apparently, when he was back there for Thanksgiving, he saw Tammy Duncan in the grocery store," Dean said, taping a box shut. He was packing his stuff up to load in the moving van the next morning. He would be leaving for Chicago for good in the morning after loading the moving van. His mother had hired a mover so that he wouldn't have to drive all the way to Chicago.

"Weird. I never met her, did I?" Julie asked.

"I don't think so. She played before you and I were on the team. I met her one time when I was at Fulton's over the summer during high school. She's kind of scary, but she's Fulton's type," Dean continued.

"So is it nice down there?" Julie asked, glancing out the window. In Chicago, fat, wet snowflakes fell to the ground in one of the first snows of the season.

"Yeah, it's in the 60s here. It's been rainy though. Is it snowing up there?" Dean asked.

"A bit. The big snowflakes," Julie replied, sitting back down on the bed.

"Well, it will be time to park the Camaro. I think Chad's going to get me a demo off the Subaru lot, which will be nice, because I was planning on buying something new," Dean continued, folding up some shirts. Julie shook her head. She couldn't imagine being able to buy a brand new car as a college student. Her father was and engineer and her mother was a fully tenured college professor, and they made enough money to have everything they needed and several things they wanted, but Julie had never owned a new car. In fact, when she left for college, they sold her hand-me-down Pontiac. If she had known Dean's family was so wealthy, she would have looked at him a little differently in high school. Although, looking back on it, she understood that he didn't want to be seen as the rich kid, so kept his parents' financial status to himself.

Julie spent the next few days at Dean's house helping him unpack and rearrange his room. He had decided to stay with his parents until his dad had recovered and he felt he could leave Carrie in the care of his parents. His drive to Columbia wouldn't be too long, and he only had classes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for the upcoming spring semester.

Christmas passed in a blur. Dean and Julie celebrated Christmas with Dean's family on the 23rd and then flew to Maine to have Christmas with the Gaffneys. Dean gave Julie a Tiffany ring to match the necklace that he had given her before Thanksgiving and two tickets to see the Off-Broadway showing of Guys and Dolls at Columbia. After hearing him complain about losing his gym membership in Texas because of his transfer, Julie purchased Dean a year long membership at a gym located between Columbia and his parents' house.

The pair left Maine on December 30th to celebrate New Year's in Chicago. Loyola wasn't back in session until the 10th, but Julie would have to return to working at Northwestern Hospital's OB/GYN wing on the 7th.

* * *

Julie and Dean had been invited to an exclusive New Year's party at M's. Chad had talked Dean into bringing Julie, saying that there was someone special that he wanted the two of them to meet. After several phone conversations with Connie, Julie had been talked into borrowing Connie's incredibly sexy, yet glamorous low cut black satin dress that hugged the body in all the right places. "And then, you put on the silver beaded satin mini jacket thing that's also hanging in my closet. There's also a black dress coat that will look good with it," Connie explained from miles away in Minnesota.

"What about shoes, Con?" Julie asked, slightly bewildered, "And why do you have all these fancy clothes?"

"My sister lives vicariously through me," Connie chuckled, "And you're going to have to wear the beaded silver strappy heels. That's the beauty of valet parking in the winter."

"I miss you, Con. I wish you were coming with me," Julie whined, "What are you guys doing tonight?"

"We're having a beer and pizza party with the Minnesota group. Charlie's been acting funny all day, but it should be a fun night anyway. We're going to watch Back to the Future and get drunk," Connie laughed. Julie would have much rather been with her friends in Minnesota, drinking beers and eating greasy pizza. She sadly ended her conversation with Connie and began to get dressed for the party.

Several hours later, Dean arrived in a black suit jacket and pants and a collared shirt with the first few buttons undone. "Who are you, and where is Julie?" he teased as his frowning girlfriend emerged from her room.

"I feel like a mannequin," she whined, looking down at the dress.

"I'll make you a deal," Dean began, guiding her into his arms, "We have dinner with my brother, meet who he wants us to meet, have some free booze, and then we'll come back here and put on our sloppiest clothes and have our own pizza and beer and watch the ball drop."

"Deal," Julie smiled, hugging Dean tightly.

M's would be serving a three course meal at 7pm, so Dean and Julie set off in Dean's new Subaru B9. "I like this, it's nice," Julie said, turning on the heated leather seats. A snow storm had dropped several inches of snow, but the Chicago metro area was always prepared for snow in the winter, and had cleared away all the snow within the hour. Upon their arrival, Dean passed the keys to the Valet, and the couple made their way to their assigned seat at a table near the main stage. Pop music softly bumped in the background as Dean and Julie were seated by an Usher. The usually extravagant club had added ice sculptures and other winter themed decorations; the room seemed cold, yet modern with its mix of stainless steel, white lights, and ice.

Chad and a woman arrived just as the appetizer course was being served. Julie studied the woman in the dark light as she and Chad scurried to their seats at the table with Dean and Julie. The small, dark haired woman sat down in the chair that Chad pulled out for her, and removed the elaborately folded napkin from its place on her plate. A huge sparkling diamond on her left ring finger caught Julie's eye. Studying the woman's hand briefly and discretely, Julie noticed a matching wedding band on that same finger. This woman was married.

No one spoke as the waiters placed the appetizers and salad on the table, bowing as they left. Dean smiled uncomfortably and looked at his brother inquisitively while squeezing Julie's hand under the table. Julie could almost see Chad's heart pounding in his chest as he took a deep breath. "Danielle, this is my brother Dean and his girlfriend Julie," Chad began, nodding to the couple across the table, "Julie, Dean, this is Danielle… my wife." Julie's eyes widened as she stifled a huge gasp. Dean was unsuccessful in hiding his surprise and dropped his salad fork onto the floor with a clatter. "We've, uh, been dating for about 3 months now, and last week, when I was in Florida, she was with me and we got married," Chad stammered, trying to explain himself.

"HIS WIFE!" Dean yelled in the car as he and Julie were on their way back to her apartment. As soon as dinner ended, Julie and Dean made excuses about having other plans, and bolted out of the club to return to her apartment. Dinner had been incredibly awkward and somewhat sad.

"He is sooooo dead," Julie said, pulling Connie's coat around herself tightly as the heater started to warm up.

"Mom is going to kill him," Dean said, almost in awe of his brother, "I have no idea why he did this! Although, on the other hand, I totally understand."

After discussing the topic at length, the pair laid in bed, surrounded by beer cans, and waited for the countdown to begin. "My brother. He has balls," Dean said, placing another piece of pizza on his paper plate.

* * *

Connie kissed Charlie as Dick Clark made it to zero on the television. The guys in the room whooped and cat called as the pair broke apart, blushing slightly. They hadn't been the only ones kissing, however. Connie looked over to see Fulton and Tammy share a short peck when they thought no one was watching. The thought of Fulton with a girl kind of disturbed Connie, but then she remembered Dean, who was madly in love with her best friend. She giggled to herself as she thought of silly newspaper headlines announcing the taming of the Bash Brothers.

"Okay, New Year's Resolutions!" Russ yelled, grabbing another beer. It had been their tradition since high school to go around the room, telling their New Year's Resolutions and then toasting each person as a sign of good luck. Generally, the resolutions were all nonsense and a way to make each other laugh.

Averman was the first to start. "This year, I resolve to stop getting beaten up by all of you guys, and to tell more of my great jokes." The group groaned as they toasted him.

"This year, I will find a woman who cooks as well as my mother and I will pass Calculus," Goldberg said, raising his can.

"This year, I resolve to stop spying on Julie and Dean while they make out and to stop drinking 10 cups of coffee per day," Connie said, getting a laugh.

Charlie was next and paused for a second before giving his resolution. His hand nervously slipped into his jeans pocket as he began. "This year, I will try to stop going commando so often," he paused as the group laughed. He drew in a shaky breath and continued, "And this year, I will ask Connie to marry me." The group gasped as Charlie pulled the ring out of his pocket and dropped down on one knee. "Connie, I've been in love with you since our peewee hockey days. These last six months have meant more to me than I could have ever dreamed. Please, Connie, will you marry me?"

Tears fell quickly from Connie's eyes as she nodded and pulled Charlie up from the floor, flinging her arms around him as she sobbed. The other guys in the room stood silently and somewhat uncomfortably until Tammy began to clap loudly, causing the room to erupt in cheers and loud clapping.

* * *

Julie's cell phone rang continuously for 2 whole minutes until Dean groggily reached over and picked it up from the nightstand. The caller ID read "Connie – Cell," so he nudged Julie, who was still sleeping. "Phone, sweetheart. It's Connie," he said, flipping the phone open for her.

"Hello?" she croaked, sitting up slightly.

"Julie!" Connie yelled over the loud voices.

"Yeah, Con, it's me. What's wrong?" Julie asked, yawning.

"Julie, Charlie asked me to marry him! We're getting married!" Connie yelled.

If she had been awake, she would have dropped the phone, but Julie was only able to manage a small gasp before saying, "Oh my gosh, congratulations!" Dean looked over at her in groggy confusion until she ended the conversation and hung up the phone.

"They're getting married," she said, yawning again.

"Wow, everyone's getting married," Dean said, yawning also and laying back down.

"Mmpfh," Julie replied, her words followed by a snore.

To be continued…


	18. Spring Break

As I'm sure you've all noticed, Tammy Duncan has appeared in this story. I really don't think there's anyone else who is right for Fulton besides her, and I really didn't want to create an original character because no matter how hard a writer may try, the characters often turn out to be Mary Sues.

Also, as I'm sure you've all reasoned out, Guy is not at this party.

Thanks for all of the great reviews! Chapter 16 will be dedicated to all of you die hard Julie and Portman fans.

**Chapter 15: Spring Break**

Dean glanced over at Julie as she reclined in the seat of his SUV, sleeping quietly. The morning sun brought out the lighter blonde streaks in her hair, which cascaded down the sides of the seat. Forcing his eyes back on the road, familiar thoughts clouded Dean's mind. Since New Year's, Dean's father had recovered enough to return to work. However, Dean's mother had been reluctant to relinquish her new position at the investment firm. Again, the fighting in the Portman house had been overwhelming. Richard and Victoria had finally agreed to split the duties; she would be CEO and he would be chairman of the board. The company had increased its revenue by 10 percent in the short time Victoria had been there, so no one objected to the new arrangement.

With the work situation settled, all eyes were on Carrie, who was still with her "worthless" boyfriend. The Valentine's Day dinner that Victoria held at the Portmans' house was slightly strained due to the boyfriend's presence, but Chad's arrival was the diversion that Carrie needed. After the introduction of Danielle asChad's wife, Victoria became so angry at him that she tearfully banished him from the house. Dean couldn't understand why Chad hadn't already moved in with his wife, but now he was going to have to. The whole situation was insane, and Dean couldn't blame his parents for being mad. In fact, he was mad that he hadn't been able to be a part of his brother's wedding. By the time Spring Break rolled around, Dean's mother still hadn't spoken to Chad.

To brighten his life, Dean had his two favorite things: Julie and school. His decision to transfer was the best choice he had ever made, he was sure of it. Although his first years at A&M had helped him grow up and focus his life, Dean could feel himself again becoming a new person. Julie brought out qualities in him that he didn't know he had. Also, Dean had never been able to fully trust a person, but he trusted her, knowing that she would never intentionally hurt him.

The Wisconsin road signs whizzed by as Julie groggily stared out the window, her eyes fixed on the small airplane flying low to the ground. Her arm was stuck to the leather seat, but she didn't feel like letting Dean know that she was awake. He was singing to the radio very quietly, and she was enjoying listening to him while he sang to a Creed song. The eight months that she had been with Dean had been pretty inexplicable. On one hand, she had never met such a toxic family as the Portmans and was concerned about the possibility that Dean would eventually turn into his father. Seriously, what kind of family has a son that hides a marriage from the parents? On the other hand, the 21 year old Dean Portman was so different from the high school Dean Portman that she just couldn't believe it. She had never known a person, let alone a man, who had treated her with such respect and kindness in addition to the love that he felt for her.

Dean flipped on the fan, which covered up his soft singing, so Julie pretended to have just woken up, rolling over to look at him sleepily. "Hey you," he said, smiling and reaching over to squeeze her hand.

"Hi," she said, linking her fingers through his.

"We're almost in Minnesota. It shouldn't be too much longer before we are there," Dean said, glancing at another road sign.

* * *

Tammy's golden retriever whacked Julie with his large tail as he danced excitedly in the living room of Tammy's parents' house; Fulton was teasing him with a tennis ball. Dean and Fulton were going to meet up with a few of the other Ducks guys to play football at Adam's while Julie, Tammy, and Michele finished the decorations for Connie and Charlie's engagement party, which would be held on Monday evening. Most of the Ducks were spending Spring Break in Minnesota to attend the party and to catch up on the past few months.

The party had been Michele's idea. She said she'd been waiting for an excuse to throw another party. Her wedding to Coach Bombay wasn't until October, but she had planned every last detail already and was itching for a new project. The party would be held at Bombay's house in Minneapolis, which had been redecorated recently by Michele.

Julie climbed into the passenger seat of Tammy's Jeep Wrangler and they headed to Bombay's house, which was only a few minutes away. "So… how are things with you and Fulton?" Julie asked, unable to come up with much to say to the girl she barely knew.

Tammy blushed a little and said, "Okay, I suppose. He lives so far away, but I guess you remember how that feels. Nothing has really happened because of that reason."

Julie nodded and continued, "But I thought he was trying to get into the minors."

"Oh, he is, but it just feels like it's taking forever," Tammy sighed, pulling up in front of the familiar, large house of their former coach.

Gordon answered the door and ushered the girls into the now bright and modern living room. ESPN blared from the plasma TV hanging on the wall and stacks of files covered the desk that held a laptop and a half eaten turkey sandwich. "I'm in here, girls!" Michele yelled from the kitchen.

Tammy led the way into the kitchen, but Gordon held Julie back for a second. "I heard Dean's father had a heart attack. How is everyone?" he asked softly.

Julie sighed, "Well, his father had to have bypass surgery, but he has recovered and is doing pretty well physically…"

Gordon nodded sympathetically, "I know what his family is like. Dean has come a long way in the past few years, and I'm really proud of him. I'm sure that you know the pressure he felt in high school was overwhelming for him." Julie nodded and Gordon smiled, motioning her into the kitchen to join Tammy and Michele. As she rounded the corner, Julie wondered if there was something about Dean she didn't know, but she shook the thought away as she joined the girls at the kitchen table.

On their way to the grocery store, the three girls discussed how much everyone had changed since the D5 days. "You should have seen Averman back then. You think he's annoying now…" Tammy laughed from the back seat of Michele's SUV.

"What about Fulton?" Michele asked, seeing Tammy's face flush red.

"He was very quiet and he couldn't skate very well. He was friendly enough, he just didn't really initiate conversations," Tammy said, knowing someone would have a follow up question.

"So, did you like him back then, too?" Julie said, smirking.

"Um, I suppose. It was just a crush. Then, I quit the team when we moved out of the district. We still went to the same middle school though, so occasionally we'd see each other. We were just friends…" Tammy paused, "And actually, I don't really know if we are more than friends now."

"Oh, we're going to have to fix this! I'm going to call Connie…" Julie said, pulling out her cell phone as Tammy's face went slightly pale.

* * *

After all the planning, arranging, slicing, mixing, baking, and inviting, the party had begun. Connie, dressed in a cute blue linen tank dress and cardigan, stood at the door greeting guests while Charlie mingled and passed out drinks. Julie and Tammy had recruited Dean and Fulton to mix drinks at Bombay's new wet bar while they finished up the arrangement of the buffet table that held lasagna, various side dishes, rolls, and a large and elaborate chocolate cake that Goldberg's mother had made.

Guests poured into the living room and game room, filling the house with happy sound. "Well, would you looky here!" a southern voice shouted from the living room. Julie shook her head with a smile. Dwayne had arrived.

Plates piled high with Michele's special lasagna, the guests made their way to the patio to sit at the tables set up around the pool, which was glowing with special colored light bulbs that Gordon had placed in the pool lights. Finally able to sit down and spend time together, Julie and Dean both glanced out to the back of the yard to the swing. "Can you believe that was eight months ago?" Dean whispered in Julie's ear, pulling her closer.

Julie shook her head and smiled, rubbing Dean's back as she leaned over to whisper, "Can you believe that they are getting married?"

"It's hard to grow up," Dean said, looking at Connie and Charlie, who were laughing hysterically at a story that Goldberg was telling.

"I don't think any of us will truly grow up. We're just going to get older," Julie chuckled, using her fork to steal a piece of the roast potatoes off of Dean's plate, as she had eaten all of hers already.

"I never want to grow up," Dean said, pulling Julie's plate closer to him so he could eat her lasagna.

After dinner and the opening of presents, Michele stood up in front of the group that was gathered in the living room to announce the next activity. "Connie and Charlie, you weren't aware of this, but on the invitations to this party, we asked the guests to get into groups and rehearse songs of their choosing. They are now going to serenade you with these songs!"

Charlie and Connie both groaned and turned red as Averman was the first to stand up. "Tammy and Julie are going to be the judges, and if you are really horrible, our bouncers will remove you from the stage," Michele continued, motioning to Dean and Fulton. Tammy and Julie sat next to the stereo system so Tammy could run the CD player. "The winner will get to toss the loser of their choosing into the pool!" Michele added, causing the room to erupt in laughter.

Averman began the show with his rendition of "You can ring my bell" by Anita Ward. Surprisingly, his choreography wasn't too bad, but his singing was awful. He barely made it halfway through the song before Dean and Fulton picked him up, kicking and screaming.

Dwayne and Kenny, an odd pairing, changed the words of "Mississippi Girl" by Faith Hill to "Minnesota Girl" and serenaded Connie. It was definitely a crowd pleaser.

Adam, Russ, and Goldberg rocked the living room with "Love in an Elevator" by Aerosmith, causing Connie's face to turn bright red.

No one knew what Luis was going to sing, but everyone recognized "Pony" by Genuwine as soon as the song started. Connie's face got even redder as Luis did a strip tease in front of the group. Dean and Fulton cracked their knuckles when Charlie jokingly motioned for them to remove Luis.

Dean and Fulton surprised everyone, including Julie and Tammy, as they performed the last song of the evening, "Love of a Lifetime," by Firehouse. The two pretended to be rock stars, playing air guitar and holding imaginary microphones. During the pair's "grunge" period in high school, it wouldn't have been much of a stretch.

After the singing had ended and the laughter had died down, Averman shouted, "Who is the winner?"

"Well, for us, it's too close to call. We're going to have to take a vote!" Julie yelled, pulling out a stack of paper and a bunch of pens that Michele had gotten for her.

"Please vote for the group that you enjoyed the most," Tammy instructed as she passed out the paper. The slips of paper were turned in quickly, and Michele set off to the kitchen to tabulate the votes while the rest of the group chatted animatedly about who they would be throwing into the water if they won.

"Okay! I've got it!" Michele shouted from the doorway, "It was a pretty close race, but this group won by 1 vote… Dean Portman and Fulton Reed!"

More sound erupted from the group as Dean yelled, "Julie, you better take off your shoes!"

Julie pouted, shouting back, "I knew this was going to happen. I HATE you Dean Portman!" The crowd laughed as he jumped over the back of the couch to chase her out into the back yard. She kicked off her shoes as she ran, thankful that she hadn't worn the satin shirt that she had considered wearing. They circled the pool several times as the crowd laughed hysterically, and finally he caught up with her, scooping her up into his arms and holding her over the pool.

"One… two… three!" the crowd counted along with Dean. Julie, however, was smart. At three, she shifted her weight toward the pool, throwing Dean off balance, sending him into the pool with her. They hit the water with a huge splash followed by loud laughter from the group. Thankfully, the pool was heated, and Bombay had turned up the heater the previous day. Julie's head popped up above the water, her hair obscuring her face as she laughed. She felt Dean's arms wrap around her and pull her back under the water. She kept her eyes shut, but she felt him gently brush the hair out of her face just before he kissed her, his arms holding her close as they kissed in the deep end.

They emerged to cat calls and whistles and Dean waved proudly, always eager to show off in front of his closest friends, the Ducks. Dean and Julie swam to the steps in the pool and sat down, not wanting to get out because they knew they would freeze in the cool March air. Dean wrapped his arms around Julie, who was already shivering.

"Okay, Fulton, who is it going to be?" Bombay yelled from the patio, the whole crowd looking to Fulton. Julie nudged Dean and they both smiled knowingly. Connie was behind Tammy, keeping her from running away as Fulton scanned the crowd, his eyes stopping on Tammy.

"Oh, no… No, Fulton!" Tammy yelled, breaking loose from Connie to run through the yard, following a path similar to Julie's.

"How disgustingly cute," Averman said to Goldberg, who nodded.

"Oh, come on Averman. Don't you think it's time to grow up?" Adam said, watching the pair running across the yard.

" Fulton, do you need some help?" Dwayne yelled.

"I've almost got her, but thanks anyway!" Fulton yelled, finally catching up to Tammy, who was pretty good at zigging and zagging. He grabbed her around the waist and the pair tumbled to the ground in laughter, Fulton landing on top of her. A few of the onlookers raised their eyebrows, apparently unaware that Fulton and Tammy had sort of hooked up over the past few months.

"Don't worry," he whispered in her ear as he carried her to the pool, "I'm going in with you." She glanced up at him and he smiled at her. She knew that the misery of being wet and cold was a fair trade for these moments in Fulton's arms.

"One… two… three!" the crowd shouted. On three, Fulton jumped straight in, Tammy in his arms. Connie caught Julie's eyes across the pool. They had a new project.

* * *

The party was over, the house had been picked up, and the guests were all gone. Tammy sat in the passenger seat of Fulton's own Jeep Wrangler. They had been amazed that they had both picked the same car, and both were jokingly accusing the other of being a copy cat. But now, they sat silently in front of her house. The lights inside the house were out, so Tammy knew that everyone was sleeping and wouldn't notice the Jeep sitting in the driveway.

"Sorry about the pool," Fulton said, smirking slightly. She chuckled a little and smiled, reaching up to touch her wet hair. She was sitting on a towel and had another towel wrapped around her shoulders. Michele had offered them clothes, but Tammy refused, knowing she would be at her house in a matter of minutes. "But I figured you wouldn't be mad if I went in the pool with you," he continued, shifting in his seat to face her.

"Why would I be mad anyways?" she said with a smile, turning in to face him.

They stared at each other for a few seconds before Fulton said, "It's really nice to hang out with you again." He reached across the console and put his hand on top of hers, suddenly feeling very shy. Tammy put her other hand on top of his and glanced down, noticing a scar on top of his hand.

"How'd you get that?" she asked softly, running her finger over it.

"My junior year at Eden Hall.Portman and I were playing a prank on Charlie, and I accidentally broke the window," he whispered, smiling at the memory.

"I missed out on a lot, didn't I?" Tammy said sadly.

Fulton paused for a second. He knew what he wanted to say next, but he was sure she would think it was stupid. But when she glanced up at him, the part of his brain responsible for keeping him from looking like an idiot was shut down. "Well, I sure missed you," he replied, looking down at their now intertwined hands.

"You did?" she asked in a surprised whisper. He glanced back at her face, nodding. They were silent for another few seconds before Fulton glanced at the clock.

"I'd better get home. My mom is going start calling my cell phone," he whispered, leaning toward Tammy slightly. He didn't know if he'd be able to pluck up the courage to kiss her, but he at least wanted to get a hug from her.

"Okay," she said, sounding disappointed, "Can we hang out tomorrow?"

"Absolutely," he whispered, his hand sliding up to her shoulder.

"I'm really glad we met up again," she said, leaning closer still. Another pause.

"Can I have a hug?" he asked timidly with a smile.

"Sure!" she said as they leaned over the console. She closed her eyes and leaned her head against his chest, feeling the muscles under his wet shirt.

"Goodnight. I'll see you tomorrow," he whispered after the hug ended.

"Just give me a call. Bye," Tammy said, giving his hand one last squeeze before she jumped out of the Jeep.

To be continued…


	19. In the Heat of the Night

_**DON'T FORGET TO READ CH 15! I uploaded it tonight also.**_

Fluff supreme, just for you!

From this point, I'm imagining two more chapters and an epilogue.

**Chapter 16: In the Heat of the Night**

The sign at the bank read 102 degrees at 6 pm. Dean turned the air conditioner to high in his mother's BMW X5 as he made his way to the Chicago O'Hare Airport in the sweltering July heat. He'd finally talked her into letting him drive it since this was a "special occasion," as she put it. After all, his Camaro wouldn't hold an additional two adults and a child plus luggage. He pulled into the Arrivals lane near that Delta terminal and waited for the three blondes. His hands were shaking. This was the biggest night of his life, and he was sure that he was going to puke.

A tap on the passenger door startled him, and he turned to his right to see Julie's mom, dad, and little sister. He jumped out and hurried over to help them with their luggage as they looked at him goofily. "Are you ready for this?" Mike said to Dean, slinging his arm around the younger man's shoulders.

Dean took a shaky breath and said, "I think so."

"Do you have it with you?" Kim asked in a whisper, joining the two guys at the back hatch.

"Oh, yeah, right here," Dean stammered, fumbling in his jeans pocket, "I didn't want to risk forgetting it." He pulled out the blue-green box and handed it to Kim, his hand returning to his mouth so that he could continue biting his thumb nail. His heart pounded until he heard both Mike and Kim gasp after they opened the little velvet box.

"Oh, Dean, it's absolutely beautiful! It must have cost a fortune!" Kim said, moving the box around in her hand to catch the sunlight with the diamonds that covered the band.

"Do you think she'll like it?" Dean said, taking the box back when Kim offered it.

"She will _love _it," Kim said, reaching out to hug Dean.

"Come on you guys, I'm hungry!" Allison yelled from inside the SUV. Dean laughed nervously and made his way to the driver's side, climbing in and starting the engine. His hands continued to shake as he drove the Gaffneys to their room at the Marriot.

"Now don't you worry," Kim said, grasping Dean by the shoulders as the bell boy unloaded the luggage from the rear of the SUV, "Connie and Charlie are going to pick us up, everything is already planned for the party, so all you need to worry about is your part of the evening, okay?"

Dean nodded, not trusting himself to refrain from throwing up if he opened his mouth.

* * *

"So what are you going to wear to that party tonight?" Connie asked Julie as they walked down the main hall in the hospital. For the first time in their rotations, both girls were working in the same unit on the same shifts.

"Well, Dean said it wasn't too fancy, so I think I'm going to wear this pair of flowy cream colored pants that I bought a few weeks ago and that blue satin top of mine that you like," Julie said, rubbing her tired eyes.

"That sounds cool. Do you want to borrow those Steve Madden sandals I just bought?" Connie asked, pushing open the door to the Pre-Op area of the surgery wing. The girls were working in the Pre-Op area, preparing patients for surgery, monitoring their vital signs to ensure that it was safe for the patients to undergo surgery.

"Sure, thanks Cons!" Julie said, grabbing a chart off the counter in the nurses' station. "So, did you and Charlie pick a date yet?"

Connie giggled a little uncharacteristically. "Well, we're thinking this coming New Year's Eve. I know it's pretty soon, and we won't be out of school yet, but I don't want to put it off until 2008, and we really want to get married on New Year's. Besides, we've known each other for more than 15 years now."

Grabbing a thermometer and blood pressure cuff, Connie led Julie to their next patient, who was sleeping soundly. "What about you and Portman? Any news on the marriage front?" Connie whispered, gently taking a temperature reading from the patient's ear.

Julie shook her head, "No. He hasn't even said anything about it in months. I hope he still wants to."

"Don't worry, I'm sure it will happen soon," Connie said, trying desperately not to laugh.

* * *

"Dude, you never get nervous like this!" Fulton said, grabbing Dean by the shoulders and shaking him. Tammy giggled from her spot on the couch in Charlie's living room.

"I agree, man," Said Charlie, who emerged from the kitchen with a glass of ice water and handed it to Dean, who took a small sip.

"I can't help it. I've never done anything like this before. Charlie, you've done this… help me!" Dean said, turning to Charlie.

"I'm not going to lie and tell you it's going to be easy, because it won't be. But once you're there and she's there, and you're looking at each other, it's going to be over before you know it. The waiting's the hardest part," Charlie said, earning an "Aww" from Tammy.

"Dude, don't say that romantic shit. You're giving my girl false hope that I might be slightly romantic too," Fulton said, punching Charlie on the arm.

"Knowing you, you're just going to say, 'Here Tam, here's your ring. Meet you at the courthouse in an hour,'" Tammy teased Fulton, who nodded.

"It's good that you don't expect much. That makes my life so much simpler," Fulton said, smirking.

The friendly banter between his best friend and Tammy was somewhat relaxing for Dean. Things were obviously going well for them. Fulton had been able to find a spot in the minors playing for a team based out of Minneapolis. Now that he was able to see Tammy almost every day, things were progressing well with a little prodding from Connie and Julie. Tammy and Connie hadn't been close during the District 5 days, but she, Connie, and Julie frequently talked on instant messenger since Connie and Julie lived in Chicago. Tammy had made a few trips to Chicago to see the girls and had always come back with a better insight to the older but not more mature Fulton Reed. The pair had been dating for about 4 months now.

* * *

At 9:25 pm, five minutes before the end of their shift, Julie and Connie's supervisor, Marge Kelley, called them over to the nurses' station. Samantha, Julie's friend and trainer from the Emergency Department, was standing at the nurses' station with Nurse Kelley. "We just brought you up a patient. He's stable, but needs an appendectomy stat. Pump him full of fluids and send him in. He's in a lot of pain. Doctor Velasquez is on call tonight, so he's on his way and should be here in a few minutes," Samantha said, leading the group over to a bed whose curtain was pulled all the way around it. Julie thought it was strange that so many people were gathered around the curtain, waiting for them to open it.

Since Connie was holding all of the equipment they would need, Julie stepped forward and pulled open the curtain. There, fully clothed and sitting on the side of the bed, was Dean. She looked at him for a few seconds, dumbfounded, and then managed to say, "Dean? You need an appendectomy?"

The crowd around her chuckled as Dean stood up. "No, sweetie, I don't need an appendectomy," he said, smiling slightly through his nervousness. The crowd around them grew, and patients looked up from their beds. Julie felt Connie push her forward toward Dean, who took her hand. He took in a shaky breath and said, "Actually, I came here to ask you a question." The nurses and doctors around them smiled at each other happily as Dean kneeled down on one knee, pulling a blue-green box out of his jeans pocket.

His breath caught in his throat as he looked up at her, tears now in her eyes. "When I met you eight years ago, I never could have imagined that this day would happen. As we got to know each other, and I began to have feelings for you when we were in high school, I still couldn't have imagined it. However, on the night that we sat on that swing in Coach Bombay's backyard, I knew that someday, this day would come," he began, his voice shaking slightly.

Her free hand covered her mouth as tears were now leaking down her cheeks. It had been a while since she had cried, and the hot tears stung her eyes. He took another shaky breath, this throat tightening more as he fought to maintain control of his own emotions. Several nurses and one female doctor were freely crying, linking their arms together and smiling. "So Julie… you know that I love you with all of my heart, and I will spend the rest of my life making it up to you if you will do me this one huge favor… will you marry me?" Dean said, daring to look in her eyes again.

She nodded her head vigorously, too tearful to actually speak. A cheer went up through the entire ward as Dean stood and placed the ring on her finger, allowing Julie (and everyone else) to see it for the very first time. Small round diamonds were set all along the band and also encircled the center cushion cut diamond, which must have been at least 2.5 carats, according to Julie's estimate. She moved her hand under the fluorescent lights, causing the ring to emit a million little rainbows. "It's beautiful," she whispered, sniffling as she allowed Dean to pull her into a tight hug as the crowd clapped.

After the crowd dissipated and the well wishers had spoken to Dean and Julie, the pair made their way to the locker room to pick up Julie's belongings before leaving to get dressed for the party. "See you there!" Connie mouthed to Dean as Julie gathered her lunch bag and purse from her locker. Dean nodded and smiled as Connie gave him the thumbs up.

As Dean led Julie out to his Camaro, she finally regained her senses. "So," she said, nudging him a bit, "how in the world did you manage to pull this off without me knowing about it?"

He laughed, finally able to relax, "Well, you have a lot of friends at the hospital."

* * *

"Do we really have to go to this party? Can't we just stay in?" Julie yelled from the bathroom. She was rolling her hair up in curlers as Dean buttoned up his dress shirt.

"Unfortunately, I promised my mom that we would be there, and you know what happens when you cross my mother," Dean said, smirking. Not only had Dean pulled off the surprise proposal, he was about to pull another, even bigger surprise.

"Okay," she sighed, walking back into the bedroom with curlers in her hair, "Maybe we won't have to stay long." She sat down at her vanity to put on makeup, which usually took a while since she wasn't a pro.

* * *

"Ah yes, the Portman Party, on the rooftop. Follow me," the host said, leading Dean and Julie to the elevator. Julie snuck another look at her ring as they waited for the elevator to come down to the lobby. As much as her mother and aunts irritated her, she couldn't wait to show them her ring.

"Are they going to be having some good food? I'm starving," Julie whispered. She had just worked a 12 hour shift with only lunch, and it was now about 11 pm.

"Yeah, it's steak or chicken I believe," Dean said, forcing himself to stop smiling so broadly.

"Who is supposed to be here?" she continued, linking her arm through his.

"No idea, sweetie. Probably some people from their work, I suppose," Dean said as the elevator dinged loudly.

_I would much rather be sleeping right now. Or eating. Or both._ Julie thought to herself as the elevator ascended the 20 floors to the rooftop. Her feet were aching and she was exhausted. She was imagining a quick escape as the elevator doors opened to reveal a candlelit dining area filled with familiar looking people.

"SURPRISE!" they all yelled, crowding around the elevator to greet Dean and Julie. Julie gasped, noticing most of the former Ducks, her parents and sister, her brother and his family, Dean's family (including Chad and Danielle), Gordon and Michele, and many of her new friends from Northwestern hospital.

She looked over at Dean in astonishment. "Gotcha," he whispered, leading her forward into the crowd of people.

"We want to see the ring!" Tammy yelled, causing all of the girls to gather around Julie. Dean stepped back into the group of guys, who patted him on the back.

"Welcome to the family, son," Mike said, again putting his arm around Dean's shoulders.

To be continued…


	20. The Invisible Kind

Caution – This chapter has a lot more vulgarity than the others. And it also has a special cliffhanger! Hehe!

Chapter 18 will be Portman and Julie's wedding and then there will be an Epilogue. Then, this will be complete and I will have to cry. :(

**Chapter 17: The Invisible Kind**

"Oh man, not again," Fulton groaned, nudging Portman. All was silent for a few seconds until…

"Huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhh…"

Splat.

"Spazway!" Goldberg groaned from the other side of the balcony. Charlie moaned, slowly pulling himself back to a standing position. Portman couldn't contain his laughter, sloshing beer all over his polo shirt as he removed the barely smoked Cuban cigar from his mouth. Fulton and the others joined in on the laughter as Charlie slid into a lounge chair and closed his eyes, moaning in pain and holding his stomach.

"I told you he wouldn't be able to handle it," Luis said to Portman, setting the empty bottle of Goldschlager on the patio table with a clank.

"It wouldn't have been so bad if he hadn't already tried a Power Hour at the damned strip club. Whose idea was that?" Portman said, looking over at Dwayne.

"I can't help it that you Yanks can't hold your liquor. I finished my Power Hour and I'm fine, ain't I?" Dwayne said, standing a little unsteadily in his cowboy boots.

"See, up here, we drink Coors Light. Conway can't handle Budwieser in a can like you rednecks," Russ teased.

"I think it was the game of Edward 40 Hands that got the puking started," Fulton chimed in, flicking cigar ashes out into the frozen grass.

"Yeah, maybe we shouldn't have used Colt 45 for that…" Averman pondered.

"All I know is that I really need to get laid," Banks said, flicking a cigarette off the balcony. Portman choked on his beer and turned to look at Adam in the dark.

"Dude, what the hell?" Fulton said, laughing.

"I'm not kidding. All this getting married crap makes me want to have a one night stand," Adam said, grabbing another beer bottle from the case.

"I hear ya," Averman said, patting Adam on the shoulder.

"Averman, when have you EVER had a one night stand?" Goldberg said immediately. Averman didn't say a word, which was strange for him.

"You bastard… you really _did_ have a one night stand!" Portman said, giving Averman a shove and knocking him off balance.

"No way… Details!" Fulton demanded, pushing Averman down into a chair as they all stepped closer.

"Um," Averman squeaked, "She works in the office building where I interned last summer. It was the last night of my internship, and I was flying back here the next morning. We went out to dinner with a few other interns…"

"Unbelievable," Russ said, shaking his head and opening another beer.

"Hey guys," Charlie interrupted. "I'm getting married next weekend!" he slurred and immediately leaned over the side of the chair to dry heave.

"I think it's time to get some coffee and pizza," Dean said, putting out his cigar and standing up.

Dean was nominated for coffee duty while Goldberg and Averman called across the street for some pizza. On his way to get coffee from the 24 hour Starbucks in the lobby, Dean rode the elevator down from the 12th floor of the Hilton Suites. On the 10th floor, the elevator opened and someone stepped on. Dean was busy looking out the back of the all glass elevator and didn't notice the blonde until he turned around. "Hey babe," he said seductively, trying not to laugh. Julie gasped, turning around and noticing Dean for the first time.

Although the elevator was glass, it was 2 am, they were drunk, and they really didn't care who saw them making out in the elevator. "You taste like an ashtray," she mumbled, her lips against his.

"Sorry, we were smoking cigars. It's a guy thing," he said, his hands moving up the back of her shirt.

"It's icky," she said, wrinkling her nose.

"I can stop kissing you if you'd like," Dean said, smirking and kissing his way down her neck.

"No, that won't be necessary," she said, pushing him against the wall of the elevator, "Will they notice that you're gone?"

"Probably not for a little while, why?" Dean said, pulling back to look at her. She hit the button for the third floor and pulled out her room key.

* * *

"I thought you went to get ice!" Tammy said when Julie walked back into their 10th floor suite a half an hour later with an empty ice bucket.

"Sorry… I met Dean on the elevator… and I wanted to show him my new underwear," Julie said, flashing Tammy and Connie to show off her new lacy, black bra, "I normally don't wear a thong!" The girls cackled as Julie flopped on the king size bed where the other two were lounging. Connie was drinking straight from a bottle of Grey Goose Vodka and Tammy was drinking something red and fruity.

"But Jules, you're not wearing any underwear tonight… you told me," Connie said, slightly confused.

"Yeah, but I had forgotten about that until we got off the elevator, but I still had my bra to show," Julie snickered. She took a long drink from the bottle and grabbed her throat, passing the bottle back to Connie.

"He told me that Charlie is extremely trashed," Julie said, laughing loudly as Connie took the bottle.

"That doesn't surprise me at all," Connie said, lying back onto the pillows.

* * *

"Dude, where the hell have you been?" Fulton said, opening the door for Portman, who was carrying a caterer sized jug of Starbucks coffee. The smug look on Portman's face told them everything they needed to know, but they wanted details.

"Well, I met a hot girl in the elevator. She claimed that she was my fiancée, so I had to verify her identity. Then, she told me that she had purchased some new underwear… a thong, to be exact. My Julie doesn't wear thongs, you see…" Portman began.

"Dear Lord, this is too much information," Goldberg said, pretending to cover his ears.

"But when she showed them to me, I realized that she had purchased a special kind of thong…" Portman continued, not cracking a smile.

"Uh, what kind were they?" Fulton said, reluctantly taking the bait.

Portman nodded and said seriously, "The invisible kind."

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" the group yelled in unison, laughing and throwing pillows at Dean.

* * *

The wedding guests continued to arrive throughout the next week, which was the week after Christmas. Connie had managed to get her New Year's wedding in cold Minnesota. Amazingly, there hadn't been any snow, which was good for the travelers. Connie, on the other hand had wanted a White Wedding, literally. As Bombay's wedding gift to Charlie and Connie, he had paid for their receptionand the catering at Cedarhurst Mansion in Cottage Grove, which was near Minneapolis. The wedding would be held in Connie's church, St. Boniface Catholic Church in Minneapolis.

The theme, of course, was Winter. Connie's dress was made of white velvet and the bodice was covered with iridescent beads. The bridesmaids, who were Julie, Tammy, and Connie's older sister Chelsea, would be wearing ice blue satin dresses that touched the floor. The wedding party would be carrying bouquets of white tulips. Her cake was white and covered with white chocolate shavings and snowballs made out of white chocolate.

"Julie, can't you make it snow tomorrow?" Connie whined as they lay beside each other in Connie's bed at her parents' house. The rehearsal dinner had ended and Julie, being Maid of Honor, was spending the night with Connie to ensure that she made it to the church on time. Connie swore it was an old tradition so that the Maid of Honor could protect the bride, but Julie knew that Connie was nervous and didn't want to be alone.

"It's going to snow. Although that weather man says it isn't, what does he know?" Julie said, yawning.

"I can't believe that I'm getting married tomorrow evening," Connie said.

"It's weird isn't it," Julie smiled, looking down at her engagement ring for the millionth time. Her thoughts drifted to Dean, who was probably still at Fulton's house, playing pool and drinking beer.

"I wonder what Charlie is doing…" Connie said sleepily.

"I'm sure he's in his bathroom throwing up right now," Julie teased.

The pair drifted off to sleep around 2 am and awoke at 10:30 am to take showers and get their hair and make up done at the salon. Tammy, her eyes puffy from lack of sleep, was waiting for them when they arrived. "Fulton and Portman were playing pool until 4 am," she said groggily, accepting the can of Coke that the hairdresser handed to her.

After hair, makeup, getting dressed, and having group pictures at the church, the wedding ceremony began and ended in the blink of an eye. Julie managed to refrain from crying during the ceremony, but got a little teary eyed during the recessional when she saw Dean watching her from the pews, his eyes meeting hers. They were both thinking the same thing: ten more months, and it would be time for their wedding.

* * *

The reception was absolutely beautiful. Charlie, looking like an entirely different person in his tux, led Connie on to the floor for their first dance to "It's Your Love" by Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. Julie chuckled as she heard Dwayne singing along to the song from the table behind her. Dean put his arm around Julie's shoulders and leaned closer to her to whisper in her ear, "There's a pool on how long it will be before Connie is pregnant. I'm going for 8 to 10 weeks."

Julie pretended to frown and whispered back, "You men always know how to ruin a romantic moment, don't you?"

Dean grinned cheekily and replied, "Sorry, Jules. I guess being around the Ducks for an extended period of time corrupts me."

"I'm a Duck too, do I corrupt you?" Julie said, smiling.

"I thought you were a cat. Cats are a lot more seductive than Ducks," Dean chuckled, kissing her ear.

Because it was a New Year's wedding, the reception included a countdown to the new year. The wedding guests all received glasses of champagne for a toast after the countdown, and the DJ would be playing Auld Lang Sine. As part of the decorations for the wedding, the Cedarhurst Mansion had set up a ball of lights that would drop just like the ball in Time's Square in New York. At about five minutes to midnight, the reception guests congregated in front of the glass windows overlooking the grounds of the mansion. Charlie and Connie stood on a platform that was raised a few feet off the ground so that they could lead the toast.

"You planned a beautiful wedding, Mrs. Conway," Charlie whispered into Connie's ear as they gazed out the window at the city of Minneapolis.

"Why thank you, Mr. Conway," she smirked, "But I only wish it would have snowed."

The DJ led the countdown.

10…

9…

8…

7…

6…

5…

"Fulton, I'm pregnant," Tammy whispered.

4…

3…

2…

1…

"Happy New Year!" The crowd roared, couples kissing. The DJ started the music and led the crowd in song.

"Hey, it's snowing!" Connie yelled happily, hugging Charlie.

Fulton looked at Tammy, a brief look of shock covering his face. "When did you find out?" he said, swallowing with some difficultly.

"Last Tuesday, before Connie and Julie came in from Chicago," she said softly, sitting her untouched glass of champagne on the table next to her. They were both silent for a few seconds, the noisy crowd oblivious to their conversation.

"Well, then let's get married," Fulton said, taking her hands in his.

"Don't do this just because I'm going to have a baby," Tammy said, sad tears filling her green eyes.

"Tammy, _we're_ going to have a baby," Fulton corrected her.

" Fulton, you have barely even said you love me. How can you want to marry me?" she said, backing away from him.

"Because I do love you, and I want to do what's right," he said, becoming frustrated.

"I knew you were going to say that," she said, turning on her heel and running away, blue satin flying.

"What was that all about?" Julie asked, turning from Dean to watch Tammy run to the bathroom in tears. Julie turned back to Dean and they both slipped out of their embrace.

"You got her, I got him," Dean said, kissing her quickly before departing.

* * *

Julie met Dean at the bar about 40 minutes later. They both looked at each other in disbelief. Julie glanced out at Connie and Charlie, who were still on the dance floor, dancing to YMCA with the rest of the Ducks. It was hard to have to be an adult at a moment like this, but Julie leaned her head against Dean's chest before saying, "I can't believe it."

"Did she say she wanted to break it off with him or anything?" Dean asked, handing Julie a Vodka and Sprite that he had gotten from the bar. Julie shook her head, taking a sip.

"She said that he said he wanted to do the right thing, and I think that really hurt her feelings or something. She doesn't want to marry him if the only reason he's doing it is because she's pregnant," Julie said.

Dean nodded, setting down his beer, and said, "I think he realizes that, but he still doesn't understand why she's so mad."

"She's not mad, she's scared!" Julie said, almost laughing.

"Well, he's scared too," Dean added.

"Why is he so scared? She's the one that has a baby growing inside of her!" Julie said, her voice rising slightly.

"Because he has to grow up and be a man now!" Dean shot back.

"Okay, look. We're not going to solve their problems by getting angry at each other," Julie said, calming herself down, "We need to get them to talk to each other."

"You're right. I'm sorry," Dean said, reaching across the table to take her hand. (A/N: If only every man were as perfect as Dean...)

"I'll meet you both here with her in about 5 minutes," Julie said, knocking back the rest of her drink before standing up.

Tammy reluctantly followed Julie back to a table, knowing that she was going to have to talk to Fulton eventually.

Before anyone else could get a word in, Fulton grabbed Tammy and pulled her into a hug. "Let's start over, okay?" he whispered. She nodded tearfully and sat down in the seat that Dean had pulled out for her.

"We should go," Dean whispered and Julie nodded.

"No, stay. I want you to hear this too," Fulton said, practically commanding them to sit back down.

Julie moved to sit next to Dean, and they slowly sat back down.

"Tammy," Fulton began, taking her petite hands in his larger ones, "I know that you know how babies are conceived. But I want to tell you how I know that this baby was conceived in love. You can't conceive a baby out of love if you don't make love. And you can't make love unless you are in love. And Tammy, I am in love with you. If you don't want to get married now, I can wait, but I just want you to know that you're not going to go through this alone."

To be continued…


	21. Part 1: In the Park

Part 1 of the last chapter… oh no! Don't worry, I'll make sure to write an epilogue.

I decided to split these last chapters because there was so much I wanted to detail that it would make for a HUGE chapter.

**Chapter 18, Part 1: In the Park**

_Julie Gaffney, RN._ She signed her maiden name for what would be the last time. Sliding the chart in the rack, Julie made her way to the locker room of the Northwestern Hospital Emergency Department to grab her purse and lunch bag. She had arranged her schedule so that she could complete her 3 twelve hour shifts in the beginning of the week, leaving enough time to do last minute things before the wedding. She made her way out to the parking garage, waving at a few friends on the way out. "I'll see you Saturday!" Samantha said cheerfully, giving Julie a high five on her way out the door.

Dean was waiting for her in the parking lot. Although she had graduated and was making decent money, she still hadn't bought a car; Dean had been driving her to work and picking her up. He was finishing up his last semester at Columbia, so he had a flexible schedule. She leaned over to kiss him after climbing into his Camaro. "How's my girl?" he said, pulling out of the parking lot and on to the busy Chicago streets.

"I'm beat, honestly. Today was a crazy day," she said, glad that her work week was over.

"Connie called today," Dean said, knowing Julie would be interested.

"Oh, how is she?" Julie asked, excitement and concern in her voice.

"Well, she said the doctor adjusted her due date to the end of November. She said she's totally huge though, and wants that baby out of there. She said she emailed you a picture of her belly late last night," Dean laughed. After Connie heard that Tammy was pregnant, she decided that she wanted to have a baby of her own. She was pregnant within 8-10 weeks of she and Charlie's wedding, just as Dean had predicted. She finished her last semester of school and took a desk job at a hospital in Minneapolis. Charlie was in Law School at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities.

"Are they still planning on leaving today?" Julie asked, digging in her new Coach purse, a gift from her brother, for some gum.

"Yeah. She said most of them are following each other over here," Dean answered, turning onto a quiet residential street in an upscale part of Chicago. Dean's parents had purchased a house for the pair as a wedding present, and Dean and Julie had been painting the walls before the new carpet was laid. Julie was still living in the apartment that she had shared with Connie, but another nurse at Northwestern had moved in and taken over Connie's part of the rent.

The wedding of the century was finally slated to take place in Chicago after months of deliberation. Julie had wanted the wedding to be in Maine so that it would be easy for her family to attend, but Julie and Dean's mothers had convinced the pair to have the wedding in Chicago, which was a middle ground between their friends and her family. Julie was reluctant at first, but when Victoria took her to their country club, she was sold on the idea. Now, in October, the grounds of the country club were looking spectacular, which would fit the elegant theme of the wedding.

During the planning of the wedding in Chicago and her last semester at school, Julie spent many of her nights on conference call with Connie and Tammy. Tammy's parents had been very upset about her pregnancy, especially since she had basically refused to marry Fulton. Julie felt a little left out when Connie and Tammy started sharing pregnancy sickness stories, but she didn't envy Tammy, who had been very sick and was eventually put on bed rest before the end of her pregnancy. After Cassandra Reed was born, Tammy's parents calmed down and fell in love with their first granddaughter. Tammy and Fulton eventually got an apartment together in Minneapolis, but Tammy was reluctant to get married. Julie hoped that coming to her wedding would change Tammy's mind about getting married, but she wasn't naïve enough to think it would.

"So, I was thinking I'd let you have your wedding present tonight," Dean said, pulling off his nice polo shirt and replacing it with a dirty t-shirt that was stained with paint.

"Really?" Julie said, smiling excitedly, "Yours is in the car, and you don't even know it!"

"You want to exchange them tonight, then?" Dean said, handing her the keys to his Camaro.

"Sure!" She said, bounding back out the front door to the driveway. Julie rummaged in her bag to pull out the brochure that had come from the builder, detailing the deck that she was having built onto the back of the house. Dean had been disappointed about the deck on their new house, so Julie had saved all of her sign on bonus and quite a bit of her pay, working overtime when she could, to save the money for this deck. She knew that once they were married, they would have a lot of money from Dean's new job and the accounts that Dean's parents had in his name, but this one time, she wanted to do something for Dean on her own. She happily walked back into the foyer, where Dean was waiting on her.

"You want to go first?" he said, Julie noticing that he wasn't holding anything. _He must be hiding it_, she thought.

"Sure," she said, pulling the brochure out from behind her back, "I know you hated the deck that was on this house… so… I'm having a deck built for you."

"Oh, Julie, that's awesome!" he said, taking the brochure that she offered.

"It's this one right here, called The Entertainer. They're going to start the week we come back from our honeymoon," she said proudly, so happy that he was excited about the gift.

"It includes a wet bar and a built in gas grill! How cool!" he exclaimed, reading the paragraph in the brochure.

"And they said they would tailor it to match our yard and the pool," she added, still smiling broadly.

"I love it, it's wonderful," he said, closing the brochure to give her a big hug and a kiss, "You ready for yours?"

She nodded and he pulled on her hand. "It's out here in the garage. Go ahead, open the door," he said, pushing her ahead of him.

When the door swung open, revealing the brand new white BMW M3 convertible, she let out an ear-splitting scream as Dean laughed.

* * *

The bachelor and bachelorette parties were held on the following night, Thursday. Julie and the girls rented a party suite in one of Chicago's 5 star hotels, ordered room service, and had a pampering session, including a massage from a professional masseuse that Connie had hired. In addition to Connie, Tammy, Danielle, and Dwayne, Luis, and Russ's girlfriends, several of Julie's friends from Northwestern Hospital also came, bringing Julie sexy lingerie and body oil.

"For the honeymoon and beyond!" Samantha had said in response to Julie's red face.

"And we need for you to wear this…" another friend, Amanda, said as she slipped a necklace over Julie's head. Connie snapped a picture before Julie could remove the necklace that held a giant penis.

The guys had a night of drinking at M's. "Connie said that she would kill me if we got you a stripper, so I told Chad to cancel the one we had hired," Charlie said to Dean as the group rode in the limo to M's.

Chad rolled his eyes until Dean said, "You know that Danielle would be pissed, so don't even start!" The group laughed, punching Chad on the arm. Almost the entire group of former Ducks was present plus Chad.

"So, you're going to be a daddy, man. How does that feel?" Goldberg said to Charlie as they sat down at their large table at M's.

"Scary! What the hell do you think it feels like?" Charlie said, laughter erupting from the group.

"Oh, come on. It's not that bad. Sure, it's a little scary at first… especially when she's telling you that she hates you in the delivery room. But you'll get over it and then it will be kind of fun," Fulton said, taking the beer that the waitress handed him.

"I can't believe that you are the first one of us to have a baby. Of all people…" Luis said to Fulton, shaking his head.

"Well who did you think it would be?" Dean asked, setting down his empty shot glass.

"Personally, I thought it would be Averman. After the one night stand story…" Russ said, the group again erupting in laughter.

"I was thinking Luis. He is the Latin Love Machine after all," Charlie said.

"So when are you two going to get married?" Goldberg said, looking down the table at Fulton.

"I don't know. We've been talking about it a lot lately…" Fulton replied.

"Well, have you even asked her?" Charlie inquired.

"Not since your wedding," Fulton said.

"Well, maybe it's time to ask her the right way. With a ring and everything," Averman said, pushing his glasses up his nose.

"Maybe you're right," Fulton said.

Back at the hotel, the girls were having a similar discussion as Julie was getting a massage on the massage table set up in front of them. "But aren't you in love with him?" Samantha asked, just now learning the whole story of Tammy and Fulton.

"Oh, for sure. I just don't know if I want to marry him," Tammy replied, pouring herself another margarita.

"Well, do you want to be with anyone else?" Connie interrupted from her spot on the bed, reclining against a pile of pillows.

"No. He's my child's father, and he is the first person that I've ever really been in love with," Tammy said, sitting down on the bed.

"Well then, what's the problem?" Luis's girlfriend, Charlese, questioned.

"I don't know," Tammy moaned, "I guess I just thought that when I got married it would be romantic and everything. And now that we have a baby, _nothing_ is romantic."

"Oh, Tammy, it can still be romantic. You just have to keep an open mind," Connie said, attempting to lean forward to pat Tammy on the shoulder, but thought twice of it when her giant stomach got in the way.

"I want him to ask me for real, not us have a discussion about it and come to the decision that we're going to get married. I want a real proposal," Tammy concluded, kicking off her sandals.

* * *

While Tammy was at the Bridesmaids' Luncheon the following afternoon, Fulton, Charlie, and Dean were standing in the lobby of Tiffany's. "Mister Reed," the salesman said, smiling at the guys, "I do have a size five in stock. Would you like to purchase it today?"

Fulton glanced at Dean and then glanced at Charlie, building his courage. "Yes, I'll take it."

His heart pounded as they piled into Chad's M6 that Dean had borrowed. "She's going to say no, guys," Fulton lamented from the back seat.

"No she isn't. Have a little faith in her," Charlie said, trying not to roll his eyes.

"Was that Chad's M6 that just went by?" Julie whispered to Danielle, who was sitting close to her.

"I think it was, but I don't think it was Chad driving. It might have been Dean," Danielle whispered back.

"What would they be doing down here?" Julie whispered. The Bridesmaids' Luncheon was being held in a swanky part of Chicago at a small, but upscale café. The only store near the café was Tiffany's.

"You don't think they took Fulton to the jewelry store, do you?" Danielle whispered, her eyes sparkling.

"You may be right," Julie whispered, looking down the table at Tammy.

Julie's had always wanted to have a large number of attendants, so she had 5 bridesmaids, 1 junior bridesmaid, and 2 flower girls. Connie was, of course, the Matron of Honor. The other bridesmaids were Tammy, Danielle, Samantha, and Amanda. She had wanted to include Dean's sister, so Carrie was a junior bridesmaid. Julie's sister was almost too old to be a flower girl, so they convinced her to be a flower girl while carrying Tammy's daughter down the aisle as the other flower girl. The group would be wearing beautiful chocolate brown tea length dresses with light blue sashes and they would be carrying bouquets of various colors of blue flowers.

* * *

Fulton picked up Tammy at Dean's house after the luncheon was over. Julie's mother had almost forced Tammy to let her keep Cassandra for a little while, so Tammy and Fulton were free to be alone for the rest of the afternoon before having to get ready for the rehearsal and subsequent rehearsal dinner, which was being held on the same rooftop on which Julie and Dean's engagement party was held.

"I thought we'd go check out this park that Dean was telling me about. I guess there is a really neat fountain there," Fulton said, staring ahead as he navigated the insane Chicago traffic.

"Okay," Tammy said softly.

"What's wrong? You're awfully quiet," Fulton observed, placing his hand on her leg. She noticed that his hand was shaking and she looked over at him questioningly, but he continued to keep his eyes on the road.

"Oh, I'm just tired from last night," she said.

Fulton found a parking spot, filled the meter up with change from his center console, and then led Tammy down the sidewalk to Grant Park. "It's amazing that something like this is in the middle of Chicago," Tammy said, looking around at the fountains and people having picnics on the grass.

"Yeah, it's like calm in the middle of chaos," he said, smiling at her.

"What are you smiling about?" she asked, a smile now on her face too.

"Well, it's kind of like our lives. Usually, it's chaos, with Cassie and hockey and our families… but right now, it's calm. It's just you and me," he said, taking her hands. Instantly, tears filled Tammy's eyes, to Fulton's alarm.

"What? What's wrong?" he whispered, pulling her close to him.

"There's never enough time for just you and me anymore," she sobbed into his chest, "And I miss it so much."

"I do too," Fulton said, holding on to her more tightly. Was now the time to ask? She seemed upset… "Come on honey, let's go look at the fountains. We can sit and have some time for just you and me."

She nodded and sniffled, wiping her eyes. "I got mascara on your shirt," she said sadly.

They walked to the closest fountain, Buckingham Fountain, and sat down on the warm grass. Fulton pulled Tammy close to him, and she leaned against his shoulder, snaking her arm around his waist. They sat for several minutes in silence, just enjoying each other's company. Fulton felt Tammy touch the ring box that was in his pocket as she was putting her arms around his waist, and now the box was poking her in the arm.

"What is in your pocket?" she asked, exasperation paired with a smile.

"I'm not sure. Pull it out and see," he said, not moving.

"Grrrr!" she said, laughing and reaching into his pocket to pull out the velvet box. She stopped laughing as soon as she felt the velvet. Every woman knows what a velvet box holds. Fulton heard her breathing quicken as she sat up straight, slipping out of his arms.

"Um, what is this?" she said, showing the box to him.

"I've forgotten what is in there. Maybe you should open it and see," he said, trying not to laugh nervously.

The box opened with a snap, revealing a sparkling diamond ring. Tammy gasped and her face screwed up into a squint as she tried not to cry or overreact. "Ah, yes. That engagement ring I bought today. How could I have forgotten?" Fulton said, proud of himself for actually getting this far without laughing.

Tammy had stopped crying, the tears still wet on her face. Her bright blue eyes met Fulton's deep brown eyes and they both paused for a second. A smile crept across her face. "Please marry me," he whispered. She swallowed hard, almost as if she were swallowing her doubts, and then nodded happily, her hand reaching up to touch his face. He let out the breath he was holding with a whoosh and then took to box back from her, taking the ring out and sliding it on her finger.

"I can't promise less chaos, but I can promise you that I'm going to love you forever," he said, holding both of her hands in his.

_To be continued… _


End file.
